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, after appointing him in January.
In a press conference aired on HRT, Karamarko said that there are plenty of reasons behind this decision including the evident dysfunction of the current government.
"If the prime minister wants his deputies, who put him in power, to step down, something is wrong," Karamarko noted.
He explained 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.
He added that this will come as a positive shock that will help the government snap out of its current crisis and called on all MPs to put the country above private and partisan interests.
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 formation, the Croatia is Growing alliance, led by social democratic SDP, has 56 seats.
HDZ's motion for Oreskovic's replacement comes as a response to the PM's plea last week for his two deputies - Karamarko and Bozo Petrov of MOST - to step down over their political row which has become a burden for the country.
Tension between the ruling parties intensified last month when all MOST ministers voted in support of a motion by SDP for a no-confidence vote against Karamarko over alleged corporate interests, involving business ties between his wife and a lobbyist involved in the privatisation of oil and gas firm INA.
Karamarko also called for a cabinet reshuffle, saying that reforms can only be implemented with fresh faces, not including current coalition partner MOST. He reiterated that snap elections are a waste of time.
Later on Tuesday, SDP responded to Karamarko's press conference in several posts on Twitter. The party said that the only reasonable option is to dissolve parliament as soon as possible and call early election before summer.
Recent polls have suggested that SDP's popularity is on the rise, with the current ruling parties coming under additional pressure.
Several analysts have commented that Croatia is likely to face elections, with Erste stating on Monday that the probability of a snap vote is clearly on the rise, but suggesting that a reshuffle of the government would be more rational for coalition parties HDZ and MOST.