Instead of presenting figures on the real number of state administration employees, Public Administration Minister Arsen Bauk has used false information in the Jutarnji List daily that the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) hired as many as 60,000 new state administration employees in the past five years, to attack his political opponents, the trade union of state and local administration employees said on Tuesday.
The trade union issued a statement calling on the prime minister, the president of the republic and the administration minister to protect the dignity of those employed in the state administration which is portrayed by the media as a permanently growing sector, run by political parties and ruling structures.
The union also cited information, dated 29 September 2009, according to which there were 64,858 administration employees, which was a legal prerequisite for the implementation of a referendum on the adoption of a collective agreement for government employees. This number has been reduced by 1,522 and today there are 63,336 people employed in the public administration, which is the figure published by Jutarnji List which obtained it from the administration ministry.
"Instead of shedding light on the real number of employees in the public administration and putting an end to media manipulation, Minister Bauk could not resist the siren's call of politics and used the rhetoric of parliamentary opposition... thus demonstrating that he is still thinking as a politician and not as a state official," the union said.
