ZAGREB, December 2, 2018 - The Croatian Parliament will reconvene on Monday to vote on 2019 budget and several laws. including the new foster care law which caused disagreements between the Croatian Democratic Union and the Croatian People's Party.

Presenting the 2019 draft budget, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said last week revenues totalled 136.1 billion kuna, including 51.8 billion kuna from VAT. Expenditures are planned at 140.3 billion kuna, 6.9 billion kuna more than in this year's budget. In said increase, 2.8 billion kuna refers to financing from general sources, while the remaining 4.1 billion kuna refers to European funds, he said.

On Friday, the government adopted three of a total of 217 amendments to the draft 2019 budget and four amendments referring to extra-budgetary users and submitted two of its own amendments.

Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said at the session that of the total of 217 amendments, the government adopted three amendments referring to the state budget and four amendments referring to extra-budgetary users – the Hrvatske Ceste road operator.

Adopted were amendments submitted by MPs Marija Pug Šipić and Žarko Tušek, worth 10 million kuna and two amendments submitted by MPs Pero Ćosić, Ljubica Maksimčuk and Marko Šimić, worth 15.5 million kuna.

Furthermore, the government adopted amendments to a draft financial plan for Hrvatske Ceste for 2019, submitted by MPs Vesna Bedeković, Josipa Đakić, Vladimir Bilek, Željko Lacković, under which additional 37 million kuna would be secured in 2019 for building and upgrading fast roads.

The government submitted two of its own amendments. The first one refers to the development of assisted areas, namely parts of Croatian territory that are behind in development in comparison to the Croatian average and therefore need additional development support.

The second one proposed a redistribution of 4.1 million kuna to the Education Ministry for the purpose of securing funds for the Hrvatsko Zagorje-Krapina Polytechnic.

For more on Croatia’s budget, click here.

ZAGREB, November 19, 2018 - Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandroković on Monday gave a statement for the media on independent MP Željko Glasnović's speech in the parliament earlier in the day in which he called journalists moral typhoid and AIDS sufferers, saying that every member of parliament was responsible for their statements and that it was up to the media to comment on them appropriately.

"I recently heard an MP calling you useful idiots. I think it would be good if you treated such MPs appropriately," Jandroković told reporters.

Commenting on a reporter's remark that he neither warned Glasnović nor stopped his speech, Jandroković said that he lets people speak what they want and warns MPs only if they refer to someone by name. "As for general debates, the best judgement is the one made by citizens and the media. You should simply treat such MPs the way they deserve," he said.

"All kinds of things can be heard in the parliament. Any speech that is unacceptable is not welcome in the parliament," Jadroković said, adding that there were excellent parliamentary debates and MPs who prepared for debates, as well as MPs who tried to attract attention the way Glasnović did. "Try to find a way not to give them publicity, rather give it to those who prepare well and make useful contributions to the debate," he said.

Jandroković disagreed with MOST party leader Božo Petrov that situations like today's would be easy to deal with had the code of ethics he had proposed been adopted, saying that "a code of ethics cannot put under control MPs who want to attract attention by insulting and making cheap comments."

"What do you expect?" he told a reporter who remarked that parliamentary sessions were televised live.

"I would have to ban ten MPs a day from speaking for insulting the media alone. You feel offended now but just look at how MPs speak about one another, how they treat the session chair. I would have to be issuing warnings the whole time. I don't do it because the judgment of the public, not my warnings, is decisive," Jadroković said, adding that he did issue warnings in cases when he considered it necessary.

For more news on Croatian politics, click here.

ZAGREB, November 13, 2018 - The GONG NGO, which monitors election processes, said on Tuesday that the flood of MPs who are changing parties and, by doing so, maintaining the parliamentary majority for Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, undermines the election result and trust in the election process and democracy.

The NGO called on citizens to consider whether they will again place their trust in those who "have changed their jersey" in the next election or punish them. "GONG is concerned about the low level of democratic political culture in Croatia as evidenced by the way the parliamentary majority is being maintained, which was not seen before the term of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. Parliament is losing citizens' trust because the majority is not being formed based on the election platforms that citizens voted for but is being maintained thanks to political bartering and a flood of defectors who make actions by such an unprincipled coalition possible," GONG said in a press release.

It recalled that during the term of the current, ninth parliament, 22 MPs have opted for changing parties. "Prime Minister Plenković is being helped in maintaining the parliamentary majority by the people who, until yesterday, were his opponents, which undermines the election results and ruins trust in the election process and democracy," GONG said.

GONG underscores that a parliamentary seat belongs to a member of parliament and not their party or caucus. "However, the large number of lawmakers switching sides to join their political opponents... reflects the contempt some lawmakers feel toward the political will of citizens," GONG said. "Actions like that lead to suspicion of political corruption and reflect a low level of the democratic political culture and political responsibility of individual politicians," GONG concluded.

Croatian People's Party (HNS) leader Ivan Vrdoljak commented on Tuesday on former Social Democrat member of parliament Mario Habek joining the HNS parliamentary group, saying that he supported political transfers if they were motivated by the wish to have better conditions for one's political work and that such changes must not be motivated by personal benefits. "We have offered Habek our party logistics in Ivanec, Varaždin County... so that he can continue his work," Vrdoljak said.

Habek, a former Social Democrat, left the SDP a month ago, saying that he would continue working as an independent MP and would not join any other party.

Commenting on Habek's transfer to the HNS, Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said that he was glad "that the number of MPs supporting this government's good work is growing." Reporters also asked Kuščević if transfers like Habek's were good for democracy and voter trust given that Habek had been a staunch opponent of the HDZ's policies, and was now its partner.

"I am not familiar with his personal motives, but the most important thing about the right to an opinion is the right to change your opinion. In this case, the change of opinion was a right one because the government really is doing a good job ... the party which Habek has left evidently has no future... and he has joined a party that offers concrete solutions," Kuščević said.

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) whip Branko Bačić said on Tuesday that the parliamentary majority had been stable for a year and a half and that individual opposition lawmakers' joining it meant that they appreciated the work of the government led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. "The fact that opposition MPs are joining parties that make up the parliamentary majority is evidence that they appreciate what the Andrej Plenković government has been doing," Bačić told reporters.

He noted that the defecting MPs were obviously dissatisfied with their parties' policies or their status in their own parties.

Asked if this made his job easier, given that he had to take care of the quorum and ensure sufficient support for the adoption of laws, Bačić said that the latest transfers did not change anything significantly because the parliamentary groups of the HDZ and other parties performed their duties on a regular basis. "I still count on 77 hands that have been certain since the first day, and I have no special comment on individual MPs crossing the floor," Bačić said.

Asked if he considered such transfers to be the cheating of voters, Bačić said that political transfers had always happened and would probably happen in the future as well. "If there are any indications of corruption, I'm in favour of investigating it. I'm absolutely against transfers that are a result of political trade-offs," he said, adding that such practice should be prosecuted.

The HDZ has nothing with such transfers, our parliamentary group functions very well, and we have nothing against transfers if they are due to individual MPs' dissatisfaction with the situation in their own parties, said Bačić.

For more on Croatian politics, click here.

ZAGREB, October 6, 2018 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, speaking in Dubrovnik on Tuesday, emphasised the importance of cooperation between northern and southern Mediterranean countries, adding that Croatia wanted to promote stability and peace in the Mediterranean.

Jandrokoviž was speaking at a conference of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), entitled "Building Democratic Security in the Mediterranean: Common Challenges, Shared Responsibility", which marked the end of the parliamentary dimension of the Croatian chairmanship of the Council of Europe.

The conference brought together parliamentarians from Council of Europe member states and the Middle East and North Africa region to discuss different political challenges and challenges to stability in the Mediterranean.

"Unfortunately, in the last few years this region has not generated stability but a lot of security challenges. Without the cooperation of all countries, there will be no peace. This conference offers answers on how to improve the cooperation and define common values and how those with advanced democratic standards can help those that trail behind them," Jandroković said.

He said that peace, stability and security in the Mediterranean region were of key importance for Europe. "We in Croatia are very much open to cooperation and sharing our experience. Based on its recent past, Croatia has gained unique experience relating to the democratic transition. We have shown how within a relatively short period a country can achieve democratic security and join the world's most developed countries," he added.

PACE President Liliane Maury Pasquier said that the Council of Europe had a duty to seek solutions to security and democratic challenges in the Mediterranean region.

The universal values of the rule of law, democracy and human rights are part of our common legacy and our systems of governance are firmly founded on this legacy. We will not take these values for granted, and we are aware that there is no simple democratic model for all countries and all situations. Everyone must find their own way to democracy, but exchange of experience and good practice makes us all stronger to proceed in that direction, Maury Pasquier said.

She praised the Croatian chairmanship of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, saying that during those six months Croatia had constructively contributed to the work of the Council of Europe and its bodies.

Croatia has been very engaged in helping the Council of Europe to put the focus on the values of the rule of law, democracy and human rights. This conference will strengthen these values, especially in the southern Mediterranean. It is very important for everyone to live in as peaceful, safe and democratic an environment as possible, Maury Pasquier said.

For more on Croatia’s presidency of the Council of Europe, click here.

ZAGREB, September 19, 2018 - The start of Question Time in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday was marked by a verbal clash between Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković regarding the government's work, with Bernardić accusing the prime minister of failing to carry out any reforms in the past two years and protecting people who siphoned money from Agrokor, and Plenković responding that the SDP was a petty party and its members were whiners.

ZAGREB, September 15, 2018 - The GONG election monitoring nongovernmental organisation on Saturday organised a round table discussion on ways to find balance between direct and representative democracy, and among the topics discussed were also recent referendum campaigns aimed at changing the election law and annulling the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

ZAGREB, September 11, 2018 - Parliament Speaker and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) secretary-general Gordan Jandroković said on Tuesday that there is no reason for a snap parliamentary election and that the HDZ is more than stable.

ZAGREB, July 22, 2018 - Along with their regular salaries, in the first six months of 2018 Croatian lawmakers have spent additional 5.1 million kuna on rent, daily allowances, airplane tickers, hotels, family separation allowances, while Domagoj Hajduković of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Ante Bačić of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) spent the most – 89,913 kuna and 89,488 kuna respectively, according to figures released by the national parliament.

ZAGREB, July 18, 2018 - A total of five candidates have sent their applications following a public call for the selection of the new information commissioner, after the previous public call failed as a mere one application was sent while the parliament is supposed to choose the commissioner between at least two candidates.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2018 - The Croatian parliament on Friday confirmed the nomination of Tomislav Tolušić and Darko Horvat as Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister respectively, but before the vote several opposition parliamentary groups had requested a recess because Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) leader Krešo Beljak asked for a security check for the future economy minister.