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Croatian PM rules out early election

Xinhua, April 27, 2017 Adjust font size:

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday ruled out a snap parliamentary election after three ministers of the Bridge of Independent Lists party (Most) were dismissed, a coalition partner in the government.

Plenkovic, who is also the leader of main ruling party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), said his party would secure a majority parliament and his cabinet would continue its work after the sack of the three ministers.

"We will make sure political stability remains," he said.

But he said his party was also ready for a snap elections if events took an unexpected turn, although he believed the situation was unlikely.

Plenkovic said that he has support from the HDZ for a possible cabinet reshuffle.

The three ministers were dismissed because they failed to support Finance Minister Zdravko Maric amid opposition's demand for him to step down due to what it claimed a lack of credibility in dealing with a financial crisis that hit Croatia's biggest private food company, Agrokor.

Bozo Petrov, the speaker of parliament and leader of the Most party, said Plenkovic' move was toppling the coalition government.

"Right now the government is not stable, and the prime minister is responsible for its stability," Petrov said.

Croatian main opposition, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), expressed it won't participate in a reshuffle and its leader Davor Bernardic said SDP was prepared to take responsibility for Croatia.

It was up to Plenkovic to prove that he has a parliamentary majority. If he does not, a snap election has to be called, Bernardic said.

Croatian People's Party (HNS), also an opposition party, rejected any possibility of participating in the government reshuffle but supported a national unity government.

Political analysts here believed there were two options for Plenkovic, either to find new coalition partners, or to dissolve the government and hold new elections.

A dispute between HDZ and Most last year toppled their previous government after just six months in office, a snap election was held. Endit