Croatia's government dissolves parliament prompting early elections
Croatia's parliament dissolved itself on Thursday on the initiative of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's government in order to pave the way for early elections.
All 143 lawmakers present from both the ruling party and the opposition in the 151-seat parliament voted in favour of the move, Croatian media reported. The next parliamentary elections had originally been scheduled for autumn.
Critics believe that the prime minister wants to bring the elections forward because he fears that the popularity of his centre-right HDZ party will have declined by then.
Plenkovic has been heavily criticized recently for his justice and media policies, with only a narrow majority of lawmakers backing him.
It was not initially clear when the early elections would take place. They could be scheduled for April 14 at the earliest or May 12 at the latest.
The date will be decided by President Zoran Milanovic. The pro-Russian politician is a bitter political enemy of Plenkovic, considered to be pro-Western.
