Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic commented on Thursday on the earlier announcement by the civil initiative to change the election law that their petition had enough signatures for a referendum to be called.

“It needs to be seen whether the proposed referendum questions are in line with the Constitution,” Prime Minister said.

The Constitutional Court has 30 days to decide whether the questions in the proposed referendum are in line with the Croatian Constitution, and allow or veto the referendum according to the decision.

“This type of questions, which reduce minority rights through a referendum, completely miss the mark, they are irresponsible,” Plenkovic said.

One of the two proposed questions suggests restricting minority MPs voting rights, barring them from voting on the country’s budget or the composition of the government.

“In my opinion, any kind of meddling in minority rights goes against the Croatian Constitution, and I do not see how that could be decided on a referendum. This kind of encroachment on the rights of minorities is for me, as the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union and the Croatian government, completely unacceptable,” he said.

He added he was only saying this today because he did not want to “influence the process.”

“This is a step back for the rights in Croatian democracy,” he said.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.