June 7 (SeeNews) - Croatia's first deputy prime minister and leader of the conservative HDZ party, Tomislav Karamarko, said his party will file a no-confidence motion against prime minister Tihomir Oreskovic on Tuesday.
In a press conference aired on HRT, Karamarko said that there are plenty of reasons behind this decision including the evident dysfunction in the current government.
He noted that HDZ, as the largest parliamentary party and the backbone of the government, believes the current bickering and poor relations must come to an abrupt end.
"The government must be uniform and firm if we want to achieve the goals we set for ourselves," Karamarko explained.
The HDZ-led Patriotic Coalition has 59 members in Croatia's 151-seat parliament. Its partner in the coalition government, MOST, has 19 MPs, while the largest opposition party, SDP-led Croatia is Growing alliance, has 56 seats.
HDZ's motion for the impeachment of Oreskovic comes as a response to the PM's plea last week for his two deputies - Karamarko and Bozo Petrov of MOST - to step down as their conflicts had become too great a burden for the country.
Oreskovic, a businessman, was appointed prime minister of the coalition government of HDZ and MOST after general elections last year. Tension between the ruling parties increased last month when all MOST ministers voted in support of a motion by the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) for a no-confidence vote against Karamarko over alleged corporate interests.