June 16 (SeeNews) - Croatia's prime minister Tihomir Oreskovic lost a no-confidence vote in parliament on Thursday after 125 out of all 137 MPs voted against him.
Only 15 MPs backed Oreskovic in the vote requested by the ruling HDZ party. Parliament's session was aired live by local broadcasters.
During the discussion held prior to the vote, twelve deputies of HDZ's minor coalition partner MOST said they will vote in support of the cabinet and will seek a dissolution of the parliament and snap elections.
For their part, the opposition Social Democrats (SDP) said they will uphold the no-confidence motion in order to speed up the road to early elections.
Prior to the vote Oreskovic also addressed the parliament, refuting allegations directed against him by HDZ members and adding that the real reason behind the motion is his refusal to appoint certain people at the helm of the Security and Intelligence Agency.
Parliamentary parties now have 30 days to gather a new majority and gain parliamentary approval for a new prime minister and his cabinet. If they fail to do so, president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic will call early parliamentary elections.
HDZ confirmed earlier this week that finance minister Zdravko Maric will be its sole candidate for prime minister.
Last week, a group of 42 MPs of Croatia's HDZ-led Patriotic Coalition filed in parliament a document listing six grounds for the dismissal of Oreskovic. The reasons for the motion include HDZ's loss of confidence in Oreskovic; the prime minister's failure to address economic and social issues; his lack of understanding for the constitutional order of the state exhibited by his decision to call off a government session half an hour prior to its commencement due to a meeting with the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA); his appeal to his deputies - HDZ leader Tomislav Karamarko and MOST head Bozo Petrov - to step down despite his lack of political legitimacy.
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 Karamarko over alleged corporate interests. Following the vote, Petrov called for Karamarko's resignation. The increasing bad blood between the deputy prime ministers pushed the prime minister to call for their resignation.