The parliamentary group of the opposition Most party on Monday presented its initiative to ensure that the right to safe drinking water be protected in the Constitution.

For the initiating of the procedure to amend the Constitution for that purpose, Most first needs to collect 31 signatures of MPs for its motion to be tabled in the parliament. Furthermore, any change of the Constitution requires the support of two thirds of lawmakers, that is 101 votes in favour of such a proposal.

The party leader, Bozo Petrov, said today that they would now wait for other parliamentary benches to respond to the party-sponsored proposal which includes the constitutional protection of the right to drinking water as well as the constitutional protection of water resources in Croatia.

Robert Podolnjak of the Most party explained that under the proposal, the Constitution would be amended to include a new article reading that “everybody has the right to clean drinking water.” Furthermore water resources would be treated by the Constitution as a public good managed by the state, whereas providing households with drinking water should be conducted as a non-profit utility activity.

The Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS) was recognised as a human right by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 July 2010.