The MP is demanding the government's ouster and an emergency session of Parliament, while Prime Minister Plenković announces remediation and prosecution of those responsible for illegally dumped hazardous waste.
The government of Andrej Plenković must fall—that was the message delivered on August 9, 2026, by MP Marija Selak Raspudić, who called on President Zoran Milanović to urgently request an emergency session of Parliament. The trigger is the case of illegally dumped hazardous waste in the Gospić area, which, in her assessment, has escalated to a point where individual opposition moves are no longer sufficient.
"If not now, when?" Selak Raspudić asked, urging opposition parties to jointly submit a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister. In her statement, she further emphasized that political reactions have been "too lukewarm," stressing that the formal acknowledgment of the irreversible contamination of Lika with 'forever chemicals' is not a moment for declarative outrage but a moment when the entire government should fall. "This is not just another in a series of corrupt affairs that we have, unfortunately, largely become numb to; this is the one—the enlightening—point when time must stop, and political heads must roll," she said.
She called on the Croatian Parliament to hold the government accountable and oblige it to act urgently, and on President Milanović to use his constitutional powers. "I ask President Zoran Milanović to use his constitutional powers and enable the urgent convening of an emergency session of the Croatian Parliament, where a conclusion would oblige the government to act swiftly and where amendments to the Criminal Code introducing ecocide as the most serious environmental crime would be adopted," she stated.
Selak Raspudić claims that the information about the contamination of Lika with so-called forever chemicals demands a much stronger response than mere calls for resignations or filing criminal charges. The problem of soil and groundwater pollution cannot be limited solely to the criminal liability of those who may have been involved in illegal dumping; it must also trigger a discussion on the political responsibility of state bodies.
In her speech, she criticized Prime Minister Plenković and Minister Marija Vučković for the slowness of institutions, posing the rhetorical question: "Did the minister blink when she said the system has no mechanisms to act faster? Is there truly none?" She also warned that the problem is not limited to the residents of Lika but concerns all of Croatia, expressing concern that Gospić is not the only location with illegal waste disposal issues. "And let's not fool ourselves—this is certainly not the only case; this is just what we know at this moment. And how many more similar lucrative deals, with the public or tacit support of HDZ institutions, are hidden in abandoned Slavonian fields or in hidden corners of the Dalmatian karst, we have yet to see," she added.
She placed particular responsibility on the government and the Prime Minister, who, as she said, "enabled a system in which our most valuable resource became Europe's dumping ground." She also commented on the Prime Minister's engagement at the Lađa Marathon, asking: "Has anyone seen Prime Minister Andrej Plenković visiting disputed landfills, or is he perhaps sailing summer boats at festive events?"
At the emergency session of Parliament, according to Selak Raspudić's proposal, amendments to the Criminal Code would also be discussed. The aim is to introduce ecocide as the most serious environmental crime. The proposal is already in parliamentary procedure, prepared by criminal law experts from the Zagreb Faculty of Law, led by Professor Roksandić. "So, if there is political will, as early as tomorrow we can ensure that those who committed this ecocide receive the punishment they deserve!" Selak Raspudić emphasized, adding a sharp remark at the government's expense: "If they start feeling the political heat with the announcement of elections, when they get justifiably scared for their own sinecures, I'd bet they'd even pick up a shovel themselves and start cleaning up the contaminated Gospić landfills. Let's see them do it!"
Just a day earlier, on August 8, Prime Minister Plenković tweeted that he had held a meeting with all relevant stakeholders. "All those responsible must be prosecuted, and at the same time, a remediation plan should be prepared with the support of the Environmental Protection Fund," he wrote.
On the same day, the Prime Minister was also engaged on another track, with a series of tweets dedicated to the 29th Lađa Marathon. He met with representatives of the Neretva Rowers' Association, and the government congratulated the winning teams that shared first place in the competition of 31 teams with around 400 rowers.
