ZAGREB, March 20, 2018 – Opposition MPs on Tuesday submitted a motion for a no-confidence vote in Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Martina Dalić over the Agrokor conglomerate and the “consultants affair.” The motion was signed by 37 MPs from six parliamentary groups and independents.
“In this case too, we have shown that we’re not a futile opposition, that some HDZ MPs will have this argument too against Andrej Plenković at tonight’s (HDZ) Presidency session and it will be interesting to see how things unfold. It just got complicated,” Nikola Grmoja of MOST said, adding that PM and HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) president Plenković was not in control of the ruling majority.
Grmoja said he did not know if the ruling coalition MPs would vote for the motion against Dalić. He said the motion was important because a large portion of the public was for Dalić’s dismissal, considering her responsibility for the high fees of the consultants in the restructuring of Agrokor. He said Dalić must have known from which company the former emergency administrator in Agrokor, Ante Ramljak, had come from.
“Ramljak’s resignation can’t absolve Dalić. He left, his company made millions and I don’t see what damage he has suffered. Someone has to be held politically accountable and it was Dalić who chose Ramljak,” said Grmoja.
Arsen Bauk of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said Plenković should either sack Dalić or she should step down. He called on MPs to vote for the opposition’s motion. “The groups whose representatives signed (the motion) and the independent MPs number between 67 and 70, which means there are nine more MPs of the ruling coalition and the three MPs of the Independents For Croatia who didn’t sign the motion but have said they would vote for the no-confidence, so we are close. We’ll see who will support our motion on behalf of the HDZ group,” Bauk added.
As for how the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) would vote, he said it was up to its leader Milorad Pupovac to “speak a little more clearly.”
Asked if he expected the ruling coalition to put the no-confidence vote in Dalić on the agenda on the first day of the next parliamentary session, Bauk said that was up to the speaker. “If he is sure that all (78 MPs of the ruling coalition) will vote against and not abstain or otherwise, he will put it on the agenda on the first day.”
“There are HDZ MPs who, during the oral vote, if there were no cameras, would say that our motion is alright, but they will either respect the party discipline or leave the party. I dare say only the HNS is firmly against,” Bauk said.
