June 20 (SeeNews) - With a total of 137 votes 'for' and only 2 'against', Croatia's parliament voted on Monday to dissolve itself on July 15, paving the way for elections to be held at the beginning of September.
The vote, aired live by broadcaster HRT, was scheduled at the request of a majority of MPs and Croatia's president Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, who said late last week that no party had convinced her it has the majority to form a new government and urged the parliament speaker to consider the dissolution of parliament as soon as possible.
"A clear majority of MPs have taken the stance that early parliamentary elections should be called. The constitutional deadline of 30 days for consultations is impossible to shorten, and respecting the will of a majority of MPs and a majority of Croatia's population, I appeal to the speaker of the parliament to hold a debate and make a decision on the parliament's dissolution as soon as possible," Grabar Kitarovic said on Friday.
Croatia's prime minister Tihomir Oreskovic lost a no-confidence vote in parliament on Thursday after 125 out of 142 attending MPs voted against him, spelling the end to the country's 5-month old government.
Croatia's political crisis escalated last month when the ministers of the minority partner in the ruling coalition, Most, voted in support of a motion launched by opposition SDP for a no-confidence vote against the leader of the majority partner in the ruling coalition, HDZ, Tomislav Karamarko over alleged corporate interests.
Earlier this week Karamarko resigned as first deputy prime minister after a parliamentary committee found him as being in conflict of interests in relation to his wife's business ties with a consultant working for Hungarian energy group MOL.