Government Removes Head of Associations� Bureau

23 January 2007

Last Thursday, January 18, 2007, representatives of 15 non-governmental organizations interrupted the �Associations Day� event, organized by the Governmental Associations� Bureau, with a protest rally.

The organizations protested the fact that the Council for Development of Civil Society, appointed over six months ago, is yet to be constituted, as well as the fact that its members � representatives of civic associations � were subjected to illegal security checks by the state Security and Counterintelligence Agency.

The Associations demanded from the Government to remove from office Jadranka Cigelj, the head of the Bureau, over her responsibility for the incident. Several hours after the protests, the Government heeded to the request and removed Cigelj.

The reason for her replacement, however, wasn�t the same that the associations listed. The Government�s reason was the fake questionnaire of the Counterintelligence Agency with a number of humorous questions, such as �What is your sexual orientation?� or �are you baptized? If not, why?� The questionnaire was distributed by the associations in their protest, to point out the absurdity of engagement of secret services to check the members of the Council.

It remains unknown whether the Government will stick to this decision. Whatever the circumstances, the replacement of Cigelj can be seen as a positive move just by taking place. Her actions on several occasions proved her to be totally incompetent, even dangerous for her area of responsibility.

For example, a year or so ago, in an interview for the �Glas koncila� (the publication of the Croatian Catholic Diocese), she accused the NGOs of grand treason and expressed clear animosity towards the sexual minorities, revoking the views valid in the time of Tudjman�s reign.

For these reasons, the removal of Jadranka Cigelj (should the Government confirms its removal), would be an important step towards elimination of suspicious policies of mistrust and animosity towards the civil society that dominated the official positions in the 1990s.