Following the scandal over illegal hazardous waste disposal in Gospić, SDP and Most announced on Monday the launch of an initiative to oust Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the entire government, calling for opposition unity.
SDP leader Siniša Hajdaš Dončić announced on Monday that his party would file a no-confidence motion against the government, stating that the illegal hazardous waste disposal case in Gospić was the straw that broke the camel's back. Meanwhile, Most leader Nikola Grmoja confirmed that his party's presidency would decide on a motion to oust Prime Minister Andrej Plenković at tonight's session.
"Gospić is not just a waste scandal; it's a question of government accountability," Hajdaš Dončić said in a statement. "This is not the first time this government has shown the same pattern of working against the interests of Croatian citizens. So I ask a simple question: who in this country bears political responsibility when the system fails?"
Hajdaš Dončić called on all political actors, regardless of ideology, to unite around the issue of accountability. "This is not about left or right. It's about whether the same rule will apply to everyone in Croatia: that those politically responsible for the system's operation must answer for it," he wrote on Facebook.
The SDP leader stressed that problems can no longer be solved by sacking individual ministers. "We are no longer talking about isolated failures. We are talking about the way the state is governed. About a government that has changed more than thirty ministers during its term, yet political accountability has never been fully realized," he said.
Grmoja, alongside announcing the decision on the no-confidence motion, said he would also initiate consultations among parliamentary groups to push for an extraordinary parliamentary session on the pollution in Lika. A day earlier, Drita member Marija Selak Raspudić called for opposition unity on the issue of confidence in the prime minister and urged President Zoran Milanović to use his constitutional power to convene an extraordinary session. Milanović did not respond to the call in a statement issued on Monday.
Dušica Radojčić (Možemo!), who chairs the parliamentary Committee on Environment and Nature Protection, scheduled an emergency meeting of the committee in Gospić for Friday. Hajdaš Dončić called on all parties and MPs to attend, including Prime Minister Plenković and the responsible ministers, "to answer simple questions before the citizens of Gospić, the Croatian Parliament, and the Croatian public: who failed? Who is responsible? Why didn't institutions react in time? Who will pay for the cleanup?"
"We are filing the no-confidence motion not to bring down the government for political spectacle, but because trust is not a privilege. Trust is a responsibility," Hajdaš Dončić said. "After everything that has happened, we must address the fundamental question: does this government still have political legitimacy, can it continue to lead Croatia?"
At an earlier press conference, SDP member Mihael Zmajlović stated that the hazardous waste cleanup models in Gospić mentioned by the government are neither safe nor legal solutions. SDP also presented its own cleanup plan yesterday, according to which the waste would be removed and the area permanently restored, with the cost borne by those responsible, not taxpayers.
While the opposition announces the government's downfall, the government spent the weekend sending positive messages on social media. On Saturday, it congratulated the U16 water polo team on winning the world championship title and congratulated Tin Radanović, winner of the 311th Sinjska Alka, on his victory with 12 punata.
Prime Minister Plenković also announced a change in the fuel price methodology: the government will now react on a weekly basis instead of biweekly. "This will immediately benefit our citizens and the economy," Plenković wrote on Twitter, announcing a government session where prices will be lower for all five energy products: eurosuper by 6 euro cents per liter, eurodiesel by 4, blue diesel by 3, and gas in tanks and bottles by 8 euro cents.
