Alen Ružić appears before lawmakers as PM’s nominee for Labor Minister

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s nominee for Minister of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Alen Ružić, appeared before lawmakers today in a joint session of several parliamentary committees.

Plenković described Ružić as a responsible and serious professional, well-suited to lead the ministry.

“I am confident that, given his profession, he will address the issues that are a priority for this ministry in a constructive, agile, active, and empathic way,” the prime minister said.

 “As you can see from my CV, I am a problem-solver. In my view, we have many operational issues that need to be resolved, the inclusion benefit among them,” Ružić told lawmakers.

The session focused heavily on the slow rollout of the inclusion benefit — a program critics have described as the biggest failure of his predecessor, Marin Piletić. The benefit, aimed primarily at terminally ill patients, was delayed so significantly that many recipients died before receiving the payments they were entitled to.

“At no point did I hear — from you or Minister Piletić — an apology that the system didn’t work or an offer for some kind of compensation. I heard none of that,” said Anka Mrak Taritaš of GLAS.

Plenković acknowledged the shortcomings but defended the process.

“Regarding criticism of the speed at which these institutions were processing these claims, of course, we’d all be happier if they had been faster,” he said.

After more than four hours of debate, the committees endorsed Ružić’s nomination. Lawmakers are expected to hold a confirmation vote on Friday.