GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
ZORAN MILANOVIC
PRIME MINISTER
Zagreb, February 8, 2012.
Dear Mr. President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia,
Despite your and your Government's full commitment to budget issues and assessments of the possibility of maintaining the current, albeit weak, financial rating, as well as the necessary reforms that should bring us all betterment, we would like to warn you of the necessity of your public response to any form of non-compliance with basic norms of decent behavior in public communication by members of the Government you head.
The reason is the unacceptable tone and manner of addressing Deputy Prime Minister Radimir Čačić, PhD, to Mirela Holy, Minister of the Environment.
Perhaps this may seem unimportant and a casual oversight to someone in the Government, but the media and numerous citizens immediately reacted to the disparaging and sexist outburst of Vice President Čačić, and we have not heard that you or anyone else in the Government publicly distanced themselves from this way of communicating. We believed that at least minimal standards of respect for women in public discourse had been reached, and we especially expected that the newly elected Government, in which the parties previously (as well as us and the public) always reacted violently to the discriminatory and sexist outbursts of HDZ members (the case of Šeks against Gordana Sobol; the case of Milinović against Vesna Pusić, for example), would promote public behavior in which the interlocutors are not belittled and belittled just because they are of the female sex/gender. Someone's (permanently present, even) nervousness in dealing with others cannot be any justification in this regard.
Ms. Mirela Holy is a doctor of science, an excellent politician and an exceptionally competent Minister of the Environment who fights for true values, and no one should ever address her in the way Radimir Čačić did. He may think he has the biggest and smartest head in the world privately, but in public he must treat everyone with equal respect. We know that Minister Holy's head and brains are at least as valuable as his.
We expect your reaction and a public apology from Deputy Prime Minister Radimir Čačić to Minister Hola and all citizens who were shocked by his inappropriate behavior towards his colleague from the government.
With respect,
Sanja Sarnavka
President of the organization
