Former Justice Minister and Chairman of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System Ivan Malenica declared on Thursday that the HDZ will not accept the SDP's ultimatums.

The SDP party has suggested that the vote on the constitutional judges could take place on Friday, but the vote on the vote of no confidence in the government could take place on another day.

Sanader: We must send a clear signal of responsibility

“At the meetings, we agreed on a proposal for 10 judges. The SDP did not take the position at the meeting that the vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and the vote on the judges should not be held together. Of course, we do not agree with separating the votes. Instead, all announced agenda items, including the vote of no confidence and the selection of constitutional judges, should be dealt with tomorrow,” said Malenica.

“We will not accept the SDP’s ultimatum to separate the votes on the vote of no confidence and the constitutional judges,” he emphasised.

“I cannot believe that the SDP is engaging in such manoeuvres. This is a question of responsibility towards the state,” said Ante Sanader of the HDZ.

“I believe we must send a clear signal of responsibility, because the mandate ends on the 7th and we must decide on the constitutional judges on Friday,” he added.

He further noted that it seems someone is interested in plunging the state into a constitutional crisis and chaos.

Bauk: Vote of no confidence on another day

SDP MP Arsen Bauk had previously requested that Friday’s vote should focus exclusively on the constitutional judges and exclude the vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic initiated by his party.

However, Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandrokovic, however, rejected this motion, describing it as an ultimatum and announcing that both issues would be voted on. “Our demand is that the vote on the constitutional judges and the vote of no confidence in the prime minister should not take place on the same day, because we see them to be two separate processes. We want the constitutional judges to be elected and the vote on the vote of no confidence to take place on a different day.”

When asked by journalists whether the SDP would vote on the constitutional judges if their motion to dismiss the prime minister was also on the agenda, Bauk replied that he was used to not answering hypothetical questions.

He also declined to comment on whether the SDP would bear responsibility for a constitutional crisis if it did not vote on Friday, saying commentators would give their opinion. When reminded that no constitutional court means no elections, Bauk replied that he does not answer questions that start with “if”.