June 17 (SeeNews) - Croatia's opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) said on Friday they have launched a motion for the dissolution of the parliament, having garnered enough signatures to push the speaker to put the item on the agenda as soon as possible.
"The country's 8th parliament has come to an end. We are heading for elections!" SDP said via its official Twitter account.
The party added that it expects the speaker to discontinue Friday's session and put the dissolution motion on the agenda as soon as possible.
A few hours later, local broadcaster HRT reported that speaker Zeljko Reiner terminated the session after SDP handed him a note with 80 signatures demanding the parliament's dissolution.
According to unofficial information, SDP and Most, the minor partner in the HDZ-led coalition government that was toppled on Thursday, have agreed for parliament to self-dissolve on July 15, HRT said.
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. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) now has 30 days to gather a new majority and gain parliamentary approval for a new prime minister and cabinet. If this fails, new elections must be called.
Croatia's political crisis escalated last month when the Most ministers voted in support of a motion launched by SDP for a no-confidence vote against HDZ leader Tomislav Karamarko over alleged corporate interests. Earlier this week Karamarko resigned as first deputy PM 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.