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Croatian junior coalition partner to support no-confidence motion against vice PM

Xinhua, May 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Croatian Vice Prime Minister Bozo Petrov said on Monday his party Most, a junior coalition partner of the government, could not continue cooperation with First Vice Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko.

His party couldn't stay in the government together with Karamarko, the president of the biggest party in the coalition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Petrov said, adding 12 parliamentary members from Most would vote for Karamarko's withdrawal from government in a confidence vote to be held on June 18.

Petrov said he was prepared to stand down if Karamarko remained in government, adding "it is likely that the ministers of Most would not remain in the government."

The move could topple the four-month-old government and trigger an earlier election, according to analysts here.

Earlier this month, the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) filed a no-confidence motion against Karamarko, for an alleged conflict of interest posed by a business deal between his wife and a contractor for Hungary's oil company MOL, the biggest shareholder in Croatian energy company INA.

The State Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest is investigating the case.

However, Karamarko has repeatedly denied that his wife's business dealings with the contractor of MOL presented any conflict of interest. Enditem