MOST party for amending Constitution to protect cash as means of payment

Parliamentary representatives of the MOST party announced on Wednesday that next week, with the start of the Croatian Parliament session, they will submit a proposal for amendments to the Constitution to protect cash as a means of payment in Croatia. They expect support from all parliamentary parties, and if they do not listen, they are ready to initiate a referendum.

“We have spent the constitutional break working, we have been working for two months on amendments to the Constitution that we will submit into procedure with the start of the Croatian Parliament session, and the goal is to protect cash as a means of payment in the Republic of Croatia,” party leader Nikola Grmoja announced at a press conference.

“We have nothing against other forms of payment, but cash must remain as a means of payment. We must protect the right to privacy, send a message that in any crisis situation, citizens' freedoms must not be compromised,” he said.

The MOST party expects their proposal to receive support from all parliamentary parties because it is not an ideological issue.

To include the proposal in procedure, they need the signatures of 31 representatives, and to change the Constitution, a two-thirds majority of all representatives.

The MOST party specifically proposes adding a new article to the Constitution stating that "in Croatia, the issuance and use of cash as a legal tender is guaranteed, everyone has the right to use cash in banking and other forms of legal transactions".

The proposal was modeled after other European countries that have already protected cash, such as Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary, and was developed with the help of constitutional experts, including Robert Podolnjak, it was said at a press conference.

If the Croatian Parliament does not listen, the MOST party has also announced the possibility of launching a referendum initiative.

“Cash ensures privacy, gives citizens freedom, protects them from uncontrolled spending, enables savings, is suitable for the elderly and protects against online abuse,” said Grmoja.

MP Marin Miletić stated that some cafes already do not accept cash, and Zvonimir Troskot said that the introduction of the digital euro is a step towards controlling the spending activities of citizens.

“The digital euro is a monetary instrument, but also an instrument with which you can manage citizens and if you are not politically suitable, you can be excluded from the financial and monetary system,” explained Troskot.

Grmoja, in response to a journalist's question, also commented on the election of the President of the Supreme Court.

“MPs should vote according to their conscience, and we have party discipline. I can only appeal to the conscience of MPs to appoint a man without tails to that leading position in the judiciary,” he said.

Source: HRT