Plenkovic says no confidence motion against Dalic another failed Opposition attempt

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in the national parliament on Thursday that the no-confidence motion against Economy Minister Martina Dalic would fail just as the previous four the Opposition-sponsored motions for impeachment of cabinet members in the last year and a half.

"All of your attempts have failed, and this one will fail too," the premier told Opposition lawmakers, criticising them for wasting the government's time and efforts on such unsuccessful motions in the parliament.

As for the attempt of the Bridge party, that sponsored that latest initiative and that is trying to implicate the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in wrongdoing in Agrokor since 1990 until now, Plenkovic said that in no way the present-day HDZ at whose helm he is could be connected with that privately owned food and retail group.

Emergency situation in Agrokor requires emergency measures

Plenkovic reiterated that the government had responded well to the crisis in Agrokor, which erupted in 2017, and recalled that the Bridge party that was a junior partner in the government at the time, also had a role in adopting Lex Agrokor.

He said that Bridge officials had participated in all the talks and in the preparation of the legislation at the time.

Bridge is co-responsible for the legal framework, Plenkovic said, telling Bridge lawmakers that they known everything.

"You knew everything, you knew who the emergency administrator will be," the PM said during the parliamentary debate.

He recalled that the response of his cabinet to the Agrokor crisis prevented a chain reaction and an economic collapse and also helped keep 56,000 jobs.

As for consultants in the emergency procedure, Plenkovic said they were picked at public tenders.

If there were any deficiencies in the process of emergency administration and restructuring of the group, they were settled with the resignation of the (first) Emergency Administrator Ante Ramljak.

"Given the circumstances, I think we have done everything we could, in good faith, and the future of Agrokor, the Croatian economy and suppliers is guaranteed, and what is not good we will fix together as we go, through decisions made by the Sabor (legislature)," Plenkovic said.

Text: Hina

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