Grab your popcorn, the soap opera continues.
May you live in interesting times, the old “curse” says. And on June 8, 2016, with yet another new twist on the Croatian political scene, we can certainly say we live in “interesting” times. While the Parliament is in session and the subject of the No confidence vote against Croatian prime minister Oreskovic was added to the daily agenda, the second deputy prime minister Bozo Petrov confirmed that he will hold a press conference (yes, another one), today at 14:30.
According to the unofficial report by N1 TV reporter Natasa Bozic, Petrov will announce that they will ask HDZ to retract their No confidence vote against prime minister Oreskovic otherwise, we can all expect new elections. After yesterday’s meeting with MOST’s National council, Petrov gave a brief statement: “MOST has reached a decision, and we will present it to the Government representatives tomorrow, after which we will inform the public. What I can tell you right now is that we will not allow anyone to play with the State and our national interests”.
Just to remind you, now that the Parliament included the No Confidence motion on its schedule, the Government has 1 week to give their opinion on the matter while the Parliament has 30 days to vote on it (and HDZ is still missing 30 MPs to launch the motion). Should the parliament indeed vote in favour of the No confidence motion, then the Government will fall, and if a new one is not formed within 30 days, the parliament will be dissolved and the president will have to call new elections.
At 2.30 pm, MOST leader Božo Petrov gave this statement to the press. „MOST will not take part in any reshuffle, if Karamarko would try to go that way. The only option for us would be new elections. We have had our position from the very beginning, and we call on everybody in the executive branch to be responsible. I hope that it will be demonstrated that everyone wants this government to continue and that the confidence that the voters have given it will be fulfilled. We are sorry about what is going on, and I hope they will be reasonable and responsible”, concluded Petrov in his short statement.
Reacting to Petrov’s statement, HDZ Parliamentary Group President Ivan Šuker said that HDZ would not accept any ultimatums.
In the meantime, four HDZ’s members of European Parliament (Dubravka Šuica, Ivana Maletić, Andrej Plenković and Davor Ivo Stier), sent a letter today to HDZ’s MPs calling on them to take political responsibility for Croatia and support the government. They added that the stability of the government was key for economic recovery and therefore called on the MPs to give support to the government, saying that the interests of the state, government and the party must be more important than interests of any one individual.
Two influential HDZ MPs, Miroslav Tuđman and Damir Krstičević, declined to sign the motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Orešković and explained that “elections at this time are not a good idea”. Gordan Jandroković, who recently resigned as deputy president of the HDZ Parliamentary Group, also said that the party should rethink its decision or should leave to individual MPs to vote according to their conscience.
