Zagreb - In 2019 Croatian MPs asked to speak over 11,000 times during debates in the legislature, one in two times to reply or respond to a reply, according to the Sabor's annual statistics.
The statistics show that MPs do not like to speak as committee rapporteurs, having done so only 24 times this year, including eight times by Ines Strenja (Bridge) to convey the positions and conclusions of the Health and Social Policy Committee, which she chairs.
This past autumn parliamentary bodies met over 150 times, holding 141 regular sessions and 11 theme sessions.
The MPs who spoke the most were from the opposition - Bridge's Miro Bulj (858 times), the Social Democratic Party's Gordan Maras (776), Bridge's Nikola Grmoja (386) and the SDP's Saša Đujić (348).
Maras made 214 replies and responded to 240 replies, 454 times in total. Considering that parliament sat 107 days this year, it turns out that Maras replied twice every day on average. Bulj replied or responded to replies 350 times.
The most active in the ruling HDZ party was Branko Bačić, replying or responding to replies 223 times, Ante Babic (204) and Josip Borić (203).
All MPs (151) complained 480 times in total about violations of the standing orders, mostly Maras (74 times), Bulj (60) and Grmoja (52).
This year 332 disciplinary measures were imposed, including ordering MPs to leave the chamber and banning them from speaking for a day or two.
Four MPs did not speak even once this year - Dražen Barišić (HDZ), Darinko Dumbović (Reformists), Branimir Glavaš (HDSSB) and Milanka Opačić (Solidarity and Work Party).
Of the almost 40,000 times MPs spoke in the Sabor over the past three years, more than 24,000 times they did so to reply and respond to a reply.
MPs spent HRK 8.6 million in 2019, excluding salaries
From January 1 through December 18, excluding salaries, MPs spent HRK 8.6 million in total, 36,000 less on the year.
Of that amount, HRK 2.8 million was spent on the use of personal cars on official business, HRK 2.4 million on apartment rents, HRK 954,000 on plane tickets, HRK 732,000 on living-away-from-home allowances, HRK 528,000 on hotel accommodation, HRK 480,000 on road tolls, HRK 286,000 on utilities and HRK 244,000 on travel expenses.
Miro Kovač (HDZ) spent the most (HRK 190,000), followed by the HDZ's Ante Babić (HRK 178,000), the SDP's Domagoj Hajduković (HRK 170,000), the SDP's Saša Đujić (HRK 145,000), independent Tomislav Panenić (HRK 135,000) and the HDZ's Željko Raguž (HRK 134,000). They are chairs or members of parliament's working bodies who often travel abroad.
(€1 = HRK 7.4)