After a proposal to dissolve parliament failed on Wednesday, the left-liberal opposition has announced that it will organise protests in several major cities on 23 March because, as they say, they are fed up with the ruling HDZ party and corruption.

The right-wing opposition has not been invited to organise the protests and has no intention of taking part.

On Wednesday, MPs rejected the proposal of the Social Democratic Party and the opposition to dissolve parliament and call immediate parliamentary elections by a majority of 78 votes to 59.

In a press statement after the vote, the leader of the SDP, Pedja Grbin, said that the HDZ boasted a kind of courage and did not want to vote in favour of dissolving the parliament and let the citizens decide in which direction Croatia should develop in the coming years. He also says that the HDZ is worried and anxious.

“I don’t know when the elections will be, but I know that there will be protests all over Croatia on 23 March, just as we protested in Zagreb on 17 February. We will protest again on 23 March because we are fed up with theft, corruption and the HDZ and it is time for Croatia to go to the polls,” he said.

He added that the HDZ MPs “are cowards because they do not want to dissolve the parliament”.

Grbin declined to reveal in which cities the protests will take place, but according to unofficial sources, in addition to Zagreb, there will also be protests in several other larger cities such as Split, Osijek and Rijeka.

He assumes that the left-liberal opposition parties that were involved in organising the recent protests in Zagreb will also take part in organising the protests on 23 March, while he does not see right-wing opposition parties among the organisers.

Bencic: We will continue our struggle

“By voting against the initiative to dissolve parliament, the HDZ has shown how afraid it is of elections. However, we will continue our fight in parliament, where we will try with numerous initiatives to prevent further damage to the institutions until the elections, as well as on the streets,” said Sandra Bencic (Mozemo party).

She called on citizens to join the protests on 23 March and go to the polls because, she says, “that is the only way to stop the corruption, theft and destruction of institutions by the HDZ”.

Oreskovic: A turning point in our history

Although the Social Democrats were among the organisers of the Zagreb protests on 17 February, the leader of this party, Davorko Vidovic, said that this was the first time he had heard about the protests that will take place in March. Nevertheless, he added, he would support everything that is useful for democracy and citizens.

Dalija Oreskovic (SSIP) and Anka Mrak Taritas (GLAS) call for new protest rallies by the left-liberal opposition.

Oreskovic said that the upcoming parliamentary elections represent a turning point in Croatian history and that it is a joint responsibility to defeat the HDZ.

Right-wing opposition not invited to organise protests

Representatives of the right-wing opposition have not been invited to organise the protests in March, and they do not want to be invited.

The leader of the Most party, Bozo Petrov, said that Most had nothing to do with the participation in the pre-election rally of some other parties and emphasised that a real protest of the entire opposition and dissatisfied citizens should have been organised.

Marijan Pavlicek (Sovereignists) wished the left-wing opposition “good luck” and emphasised that his party would continue to fight through institutions and proposals in Parliament.

Stephen Bartulica (DP party) believes that Croatian citizens will not benefit from a “pointless debate” on the dissolution of parliament.