- Published: 04.05.2017.
PM Plenkovic says Opposition's initiative fails
After the parliament did not pass a vote of no-confidence in Finance Minister Zdravko Maric, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the initiative from the Opposition and the Bridge party had failed, and added that the topic whether he had secured a parliamentary majority was irrelevant today.
Asked by the press at a news conference if at this moment he enjoyed the support in the 151-seat parliament, Plenkovic said this was not the topic today and that this would be put on the agenda when parliament voted on new ministers, nominated by the HDZ.
Plenkovic said the government was stable, adding that later today he would resume consultations with other partners to find solutions for the stabilisation of parliament.
Commenting on today's vote on no-confidence vote in his finance minister, Plekovic said the burden of collecting enough votes was on those who had tabled the motion to replace Maric.
"The entire initiative has once again shown that there are some political parties capable of creating political opinions about people based on pamphlets, insinuations and fabricated arguments, without giving an opportunity to those people to present their defence, arguments and facts. We have witnessed this during a debate in parliament yesterday," Plenkovic said, adding that this was an attempt to destabilise state institutions.
He dismissed claims by Parliament Speaker Bozo Petrov that the parliamentary vote had shown that the government did not have a parliamentary majority, stressing that the burden of collecting enough votes was on those who had launched the initiative to replace Maric.
They have been defeated, Plenkovic said, stressing that the Bridge party was trying to spread "monstrous" accusations that his cabinet was trying to cover up criminal activities in Agrokor.
Asked if he had a majority in the 151-seat parliament given the 75-75 vote ratio during the vote of no confidence in Maric, Plenkovic said that today's agenda included a vote on Maric and that should be the end of it.
The HDZ and I personally are ready for elections and we offer political stability, said Plenkovic.
Asked to comment on the fact that Maric narrowly survived the no-confidence vote owing to the vote of Tomislav Saucha, independent MP who used to be a Social Democrat lawmaker, Plenkovic said he was more concerned about the fabricated thesis indicating that Saucha's vote had been bought.
"I believe that for some time now, the Croatian public has been aware of who is who, who is using these kinds of methods, who is using pressure methods to influence independent political decisions of parliamentary deputies...Saucha made his decision for his own reasons, he most definitely did not make it under pressure from me or the HDZ.. I ask the public and the media to protect the dignity of their deputies and the dignity of Saucha who is now the target of armchair revolutionaries," Plenkovic said.
Text: Hina