ZAGREB, July 23, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday it was not his fault that MPs received the new government's programme late, and that the new parliament included plenty of sensitive MPs who had yet to toughen up.

"I'm satisfied with what we presented as our programme," he told press during a break in a parliamentary debate on his new cabinet's programme.

"As for this argument that the programme wasn't sent 25 days earlier, it's always been so. After parliament yesterday adopted a law on fewer ministries, the material was sent to parliament. Whether it was delivered at 8 or 9 a.m., it's not on me as the prime minister-designate. They knew the programme. It doesn't contain any particular surprises in relation to the (election) campaign," Plenkovic said after MPs claimed they received the programme too late to be able to examine it.

He said that during the debate none of the new MPs made him lose his temper, but noted that plenty of the new ones were quite sensitive and that they appealed to the deputy speaker for protection.

Plenkovic was referring to MPs who accused him of interrupting Tomislav Tomasevic of the green-left coalition during his address and warned deputy speaker Zeljko Reiner that Plenkovic was in breach of standing orders.

"They'll toughen up," said Plenkovic.

He went on to say that the support of 76 MPs for his cabinet was enough and that he would not persuade or lobby to ensure a broader support.

He said government members would be stripped of immunity when it came to corruption-related offences and that this was an important political statement and a contribution to the fight against corruption.

ZAGREB, July 22, 2020 - The founding meeting of the new, 10th parliament began on Wednesday morning with the election of Gordan Jandrokovic as the speaker of this 151-seat legislature.

The proposal by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) to nominate Jandrokovic for this post was supported by 143 newly-elected deputies, with one abstention, and there were no votes against the motion.

Gordan Jandrokovic of the ruling HDZ, who was at the helm of the 9th parliament, continues performing this duty in the new legislature, and he is the first parliament speaker to be appointed to this position for two successive terms. Jandrokovic, born in 1967 in Bjelovar, has won a seat in six parliamentary elections to date. He was also a foreign minister and a deputy prime minister and has held other positions since 1992.

The founding session was held in the Parliament Hall with the implementation of the epidemiological measures, which was why parliamentarians wore masks and kept a social distance.

During the 5 July parliamentary polls, Croatia elected 151 deputies of whom 34 are women and 117 are men.

In the new parliament, the youngest deputy is a 30-year-old Marina Opacak-Bilic of the SDP party, and the oldest deputy is HDZ parliamentarian Miroslav Tudjman, 74.