Tomislav Karamarko | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia | |
| In office 22 January 2016 – 15 June 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Tihomir Orešković |
| Preceded by | Vesna Pusić |
| Succeeded by | Davor Ivo Stier |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 21 May 2012 – 22 January 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Zoran Milanović |
| Preceded by | Jadranka Kosor |
| Succeeded by | Zoran Milanović |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 10 October 2008 – 23 December 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Ivo Sanader Jadranka Kosor |
| Preceded by | Berislav Rončević |
| Succeeded by | Ranko Ostojić |
| Member of theCroatian Parliament for the 3rd electoral district | |
| In office 22 December 2011 – 22 January 2016 | |
| President of the Croatian Democratic Union | |
| In office 21 May 2012 – 21 June 2016 | |
| Deputy | Drago Prgomet Milijan Brkić |
| Preceded by | Jadranka Kosor |
| Succeeded by | Andrej Plenković |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1959-05-25)25 May 1959 (age 66) |
| Party | Croatian Democratic Union(1989–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Patriotic Coalition(2015) |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
| Website | Official website |
Tomislav Karamarko (pronounced[tǒmislaʋkaramǎːrko]; born 25 May 1959) is a Croatian politician who served asFirst Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia from January to June 2016. He served in theCabinet of Jadranka Kosor asMinister of the Interior from 2008 to 2011.
Karamarko was born inZadar,People's Republic of Croatia,Yugoslavia, in a Croatian family. His father was one of the survivors of theBleiburg repatriations.[1] He attended elementary school atKruševo nearObrovac, then moved with his family toZagreb where he finished high school.
During his education in high school, Karamarko played guitar and performed in Students' Home, where other popular bands also held concerts, among whichAzra,Film,Idoli and others. As a youngster, Karamarko played basketball, and he almost started to join some basketball clubs; however, he chose education instead of sports.[2]
In 1979 he enrolled at theUniversity of Zagreb'sFaculty of Law, but later dropped out and eventually switched to studying history at theFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1982, before graduating in 1985.[3]
According toJosip Manolić, to whom he was a chief of cabinet when Manolić become the Prime Minister, Karamarko worked for theState Security Administration (UDBA), the secret police ofYugoslavia. Manolić said that Karamarko worked for UDBA because he was blackmailed for involvement in petty criminal activities.[4] Karamarko sued Manolić for libel regarding Manolić's interview toNacional, but Manolić was acquitted in 2018 after testimonies by, among others, Krunislav Olujić, who confirmed that PresidentFranjo Tuđman indicated thatVladimir Šeks and Karamarko worked for the secret police before democratization.[5]
During his university days Karamarko was known as a shy student who only mingled with students hailing fromDalmatia orHerzegovina. As a twenty-year-old, Karamarko joined the Croatian Catholic AssemblyMi (We). In 1982, Karamarko visitedVatican City with a group of his friends where they waved theCroatian flag.[citation needed] As a result, he was reportedly deprived of a passport by Yugoslavia's authorities.[2] A journalist, Željko Peratović, later disputed that Karamarko was a Catholic dissident, claiming that UDBA had helped him obtain a job in theCroatian State Archives and finish his studies.[6] In the 1980s Karamarko met his future wife, Enisa Muftić, daughter ofOsman Muftić, who later briefly served as minister of science in theCabinet of Stjepan Mesić in 1990.[3]
Karamarko was one of the founders of theCroatian Democratic Union in 1989 and in June 1991 he was named Chief of Cabinet ofJosip Manolić, Prime Minister of Croatia. He continued to serve as Chief of Cabinet for Manolić's successor,Franjo Gregurić until September 1992 when he became Chief of Cabinet of theSpeaker of the Croatian Parliament,Stjepan Mesić. A year later he became Director of the Zagreb Police Administration and in 1996 he was named Assistant Interior Minister. In 1998 he also became secretary of theCroatian Automobile Club.
During the2000 presidential election he headedStjepan Mesić's election campaign. Mesić won the election and later named Karamarko as his national security advisor and head of theNational Security Office. In 2002 Karamarko was appointed director of theCounterintelligence Agency (POA) and in 2006 he was named director of theSecurity and Intelligence Agency (SOA).
In October 2008 Prime MinisterIvo Sanader named himMinister of the Interior and he remained in that post until December 2011 when HDZ was defeated in the2011 general election. He acted as an independent minister until September 2011, when he joined HDZ for the second time.[clarification needed] In May 2012 he won the party election and became the fourth president of HDZ, succeeding former Prime MinisterJadranka Kosor.
He was assigned byIvan Bobetko to unload the party's official newspaperGlasnik HDZ-a from a truck with his friends.[2] BeforeFranjo Tuđman was elected president, Karamarko supported presidency ofMarko Veselica orVlado Veselica. Soon, Karamarko met an influential HDZ member,Vice Vukojević who involved him in organization of the first HDZ's assembly. Karamarko's connections with HDZ helped him re-establish contact with people from his hometown, where he brought arms bought by Croatian expatriates. In 1991, after a shorter fight with theArmy of Serb Krajina, Karamarko prepared housing for Croatian refugees, which increased his reputation among people from the Zadar area.[3]
On the recommendation of Vukojević, who was at the time the assistant to Interior Minister andJosip Perković, assistant Defence Minister, on 17 June 1991, Karamarko was named chief of cabinet of Prime MinisterJosip Manolić. Karamarko became friends withStjepan Mesić. Manolić's successor,Franjo Gregurić, left Karamarko as his chief of cabinet.[3]
On 10 September 1992, when the Second Assembly of theCroatian Parliament was formed, Mesić, at the time Speaker of Parliament, named him chief of his cabinet. Karamarko remained Mesić's cabinet chief until 15 June 1993, when he was named chief of police in Zagreb. That year, he married Enisa Muftić.[3]
From 1993 until 1996, Karamarko served as director of Zagreb Police Administration, and from 1996 to 1998 served as Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs. After he ended his career as assistant minister, he became secretary of theCroatian Automobile Club.[7]
During the2000 presidential election Karamarko was chief of Mesić's election campaign.[7] Mesić, at the time member of theCroatian People's Party, won the election with 56% of votes in the second round againstDražen Budiša of theCroatian Social Liberal Party. After Mesić had won the election, Karamarko was named as his advisor for national security.[7]
He also served as the head ofNational Security Office (UNS) from 2000 to 2002,[8] as the head ofCounterintelligence Agency (POA) from 2004 to 2006,[9] and as the head ofSecurity and Intelligence Agency (SOA) from 2006 to 2008.[10]
In May 2015. Karamarko gave the interview to Croatian weeklyGlobus, after which Croatian media dubbed his new program "The Anti-communist Manifesto" . In it Karamarko advocated for "comprehensive change of general public climate, complete system of values, nullification of communist indoctrination and abolishment of wrong and degenerate interpretation of contemporary history".[11] He criticized his main rivalsSocial Democratic Party of Croatia, claiming that: "they, as a successor ofLeague of Communists of Croatia, never renounced nor condemned its owntotalitarianism." and urged them to: "renounceJosip Broz Tito, totalitarianism and to condemn Tito's crimes."[11]
In January 2018., while commenting recent political events in Croatia on Facebook, Karamarko wrote that his: "political thought is very close to that ofViktor Orban'sChristmas message".[12]
In May 2012., Karamarko was elected president ofCroatian Democratic Union, main center-right political party in Croatia.[13] After the election, Karamarko radicalised his party's politics[14] and eventually became one of the most unpopular politicians in the country[15][16][17] Such situation forced his party[18] to enter a coalition with a new party in Croatia,Bridge of Independent Lists (Most), in the aftermath ofparliamentary elections, 2015. The coalition was formed because Most surprisingly won 19 seats in the parliament and thus became "a kingmaker" for forming the next government, having to decide between a conservative or a social democratic government.[19] After the negotiations between HDZ and Most, on January 22, 2016, both parties agreed to elect non-partisanTihomir Orešković as new prime minister ofCroatia, while Karamarko became theFirst Deputy Prime Minister.[20]
On May 18, 2016,Social Democratic Party (SDP) begunmotion of no confidence against Karamarko, afterNacional weekly published secret contracts on business cooperation of his wife Ana Šarić and Josip Petrović, special adviser and lobbyist of theMOL Group, a Hungarian oil corporation that gained control of Croatia's national oil companyINA through a corruption scandal involving former Prime MinisterIvo Sanader. According to contracts, Šarić, a marketing expert, advised Petrović on the energy business and was paid for that at least 60,000 euros.[21] Contracts are controversial since Croatia and MOL are currently in the arbitration proceeding which was started by MOL for Croatia's alleged violation of certain obligations and procedures in connection with MOL's investment in Croatia. In addition, contracts were examined by the CroatianCommittee on Conflict of Interest which determined that Karamarko was indeed in conflict of interest when he publicly shared his views and suggested that Croatia should pull out of the arbitration proceedings. The vote was supposed to take place by June 18, 2016,[22] and it had support of 80 MP's, including those of his coalition partners Most, with 76 needed.[23] On June 15, 2016, Karamarko resigned as First Deputy Prime Minister.
After Karamarko's resignation from the place of First Deputy Prime Minister, HDZ decided to run a revenge motion of no confidence against prime minister Orešković[24] The vote took place on 16 June 2016 and it was successful with 125 MPs in favor, 15 against and 2 abstentions, which caused the government to collapse.[25] HDZ then tried to form a new majority in the parliament with no success,[26] despite party members claiming that they have the support of sufficient number MPs.[27] Croatian PresidentKolinda Grabar-Kitarović, therefore decided to schedule the new parliamentary elections for September 2016.[28] As a consequence of failing to form a new majority in the parliament, Karamarko decided to resign from his position of president of Croatian Democratic Union on 21 June 2016.[29] One month later,Andrej Plenković was elected as Karamarko's successor on head of HDZ.[30]
After resignation, Karamarko spent some time traveling around the world and in May 2017, he announced that he decided to establish a think-tank organisation -Institute for Security and Prosperity of Croatia.[31] The move which was later mocked by some of his former party members.[32]
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Interior 2008–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 2012–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia 2016 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theCroatian Democratic Union 2012–2016 | Succeeded by |
