ZAGREB, April 7, 2018 - Ivan Vrdoljak, the leader of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said late on Friday evening, after a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, that the coalition was stable and that in the coming days the prime minister would convene the commission whose task is to appoint the head of the expert task force for the implementation of the education reform.
"The coalition is stable. We have concluded that tension has been created in public, while the atmosphere at the meeting was actually excellent," Vrdoljak told reporters after the meeting, which ended shortly after 11 pm. He said that they had discussed a number of issues, including members of the expert task force for the implementation of the education reform, but he would not say whether Matko Glunčić would be appointed the head of the task force.
Glunčić's appointment is opposed by the HNS and its Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak.
Speaking to the press before the meeting, Vrdoljak said that the HNS would not allow the education reform to be halted.
Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters after a meeting of his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) presidency, Plenković said that the implementation of the curricular reform was not a matter over which the coalition partners should outvote one another, but should seek a solution that would ensure the effective continuation of the education reform.
After the HDZ meeting, Plenković arrived at government headquarters accompanied by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Interior Minister Davor Božinović. Vrdoljak joined them later.
