ZAGREB, 28 April 2022 - The parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System on Thursday supported by majority vote Anja Šimpraga for deputy prime minister, amidst criticism from the right and praises from the left, which nonetheless withdrew its support.

Šimpraga, an MP of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), received seven votes for and three against.

It is expected that the parliamentary majority will support her tomorrow as deputy PM for social activities and human rights.

The committee's right-wing members called her out for not respecting the fact of the Serbian military aggression on Croatia or the legitimate 1995 Operation Storm.

Left-wing members praised her personally and her work so far, but would not support her, saying this vote was not about her but the Andrej Plenković cabinet.

Presenting her to the committee, Plenković said he expected her to contribute to human and minority rights and to hate speech prevention in line with the government's concept.

Šimpraga said she would deal with the most vulnerable social issues, such as human and minority rights, gender equality, the rights of the LGBT community, Roma and all other vulnerable groups, as well as with the aftermath of the 2020 earthquakes.

Šimpraga said she would work in the spirit of her predecessor Boris Milošević, "who brought peace", continuing to build inter-ethnic confidence and inclusion.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 30 March 2022 - The committee on the Constitution on Wednesday recommended by majority vote that parliament forward the questions from the Bridge party's referendum petitions against COVID certificates, and the national COVID crisis management team, to the Constitutional Court for assessment.

Parliament is expected to vote on the recommendation before the Easter recess.

Seven members of the parliamentary committee were for and five against asking the Constitutional Court to assess the question against the certificates, while 11 were for and one - Božo Petrov of Bridge - against the constitutionality test for the question against the crisis management team.

The opposition Bridge wants Article 17 of the Constitution to include the declaration of an epidemic as a moment when constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms can be restricted, but only by a two-thirds majority in parliament.

The party also wants the law protecting the population from infectious diseases to be amended so that parliament, and not a national crisis management team, decides on restrictions of rights and freedoms.

Nikola Grmoja of Bridge requested the recusal of judge Miroslav Šumanović if the Constitutional Court will assess the referendum questions because of his statement in 2019 that the people cannot decide by referendum on changing the Constitution.

Petrov said the conditions for holding the referendum had been met and that it should be called without the Constitutional Court's opinion.

According to the opposition Social Democratic Party, the petition to amend the law was not prepared well, that it is against the Constitution, and that the court should assess it. "It's simply impossible for every decision, including technical ones, to be implemented through parliament," party president Peđa Grbin said.

Constitutional law expert Sanja Barić said two decisions should be made. "The legislative petition is counter-constitutional, and I doubt the constitutionality of the petition to change the Constitution."

Bridge called her out for acting as a politician and not an expert.

The committee's external member, constitutional law expert Branko Smerdel, said the Constitutional Court should assess both questions. He warned about a flood of populists and "referendum-mania", pushing for amending the referendum law.

The Constitutional Court has 30 days to say if the referendum questions are in compliance with the Constitution.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - The parliamentary Committee on the Constitution and Standing Orders on Thursday asked the government to verify the signatures collected for two referendum petitions by the opposition Bridge party and notify parliament.

The committee also asked the government to check if the signatures were collected in line with the valid Referendum Act.

The committee accepted Bridge president Božo Petrov's motion to include at least two representatives of each initiative in the signature counting.

One petition was for abolishing COVID certificates and the other for abolishing the national COVID crisis management team.

The committee did not accept a proposal to define a deadline for counting the signatures.

A reasonable deadline would be at least as long as it took Bridge to count the signatures, which is 30 days, Petrov had said.

The opposition was for tasking the State Electoral Commission with verifying the signatures as an independent body.

For more, check out our politics section.