The political engagement of former Deputy Police Director Milijan Brkic as a candidate on a slate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is his right which he is exercising after leaving active police service, Minister of the Interior Tomislav Karamarko said on Tuesday.
"Brkic left active police service, he then entered the HDZ and was nominated a candidate and that's his right," Karamarko told reporters after a government session.
The minister said that the police force had been depoliticised, which he added was best evidenced by the political affiliation of people who had been under investigation for the last two years.
Membership of a political party is forbidden in active police service, and people are given assignments in line with the regulation on police positions, Karamarko said.
He added that promotion in the police did not depend on one's political preferences, which he said had been the case in 2000.
Asked if he would be a good replacement in the December 4 parliamentary election for HDZ veteran Ivan Jarnjak, Karamarko said that he would try to achieve the best possible result in the constituency where Jarnjak had always been popular.
Jarnjak will support me in it, Karamarko said.
The HDZ submitted its slates for the forthcoming parliamentary election to the State Election Commission on Monday.
Jarnjak, a member of the HDZ Presidency who used to be the party's secretary-general, is not on the slates.
