On Wednesday, Parliament will debate and vote on the new government.
On Monday, parliamentary agenda was expanded with one additional item – debate and vote on the new government, which is expected to take place on Wednesday. The final list of new ministers should be known later today, reports Jutarnji List on October 18, 2016.
HDZ president and Prime Minister-Designate Andrej Plenković will reportedly first present the names of new ministers at a session of the party presidency this afternoon. However, members of the presidency say they have still not received any information when the meeting will take place. Plenković spent Monday in his party headquarters, meeting with potential ministers. He left the building shortly before midnight, but refused to give any details to reporters who were waiting for him.
The biggest mystery is still the issue who will replace controversial Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović. While some claim that it will be Nina Obuljen, who has been harshly criticized by rightwing circles as being too moderate, there is speculation that Hasanbegović could be replaced by a candidate who has so far not been mention for the post.
In recent days, Andrej Plenković spoke with many potential candidates for ministers and with all current ministers of the government led by the outgoing Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković. However, they have not been informed whether any of them will continue in their post. “We talked in general about the government programme, and what should be done in the future”, said one of current ministers.
According to unofficial sources, there are some ministers who will almost certainly continue in their posts – Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Tomislav Tolušić, Construction Minister Lovro Kuščević and Transportation Minister Oleg Butković. It is rumoured that new Economy Minister might be Martina Dalić, who was Finance Minister in a previous HDZ government. Member of Parliament Goran Marić, who was in the running for several ministerial posts, was yesterday appointed as the Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Media, which is an indication that he will not be in the cabinet after all.
Sources from HDZ also claim that it is almost certain that Martina Bienenfeld, head of the Zagreb Tourist Board, will be the new Minister of Tourism, while the Health Ministry will probably go to Milan Kujundžić. As for the post of Veterans’ Affairs Minister, the candidates are Zvonko Milas and current minister Tomo Medved.
If government is confirmed on Wednesday as expected, Plenković would immediately become the Prime Minister and would on Thursday travel to Brussels to take part in an EU summit.
