The Croatian parliament on Friday appointed the chair and members of its Human and National Minority Rights Committee, electing Milorad Pupovac of the Indepedent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) as the committee chair, thus wrapping up the appointment of its working bodies.

Pupovac’s appointment was supported by 109 deputies, 20 voted against and one abstained.

Pupovac had been nominated by the parliamentary group representing ethnic minorities, and his nomination divided both deputies of the parliamentary majority and those from the opposition. Some of the opposition deputies today again objected to the fact that Pupovac declares to be part of the opposition, while the committee he chairs belongs in the quota of the parliamentary majority, which, they said, should have the right to the position of its chair.

Homeland Movement (DP) deputies, who did not vote for Pupovac today, had previously threatened to leave the ruling coalition if he was elected.

Their coalition partners, HDZ deputies, had said they would support Pupovac, citing the long-lasting tradition of the minority caucus proposing their own candidate for the position.

The SDP caucus had said that it would support the minority group’s proposal because it respects the fact that over the past 20 years or more that caucus has nominated the chair of that committee.

The parliament elected SDP MP Boska Ban-Vlahek deputy chair of the Human and National Minority Rights Committee, as well as its 13 members – Ive Caleta-Car (DP), Ivana Kekin (Mozemo!), Barbara Antolic-Vupora, Sanja Bjezancevic and Mihael Zmajlovic (SDP), Dragana Jeckov (SDSS), Ljubomir Kolarek and Miro Totgergeli (HDZ) and minority deputies Armin Hodzic (Bosniak minority), Furio Radin (Italian minority), Veljko Kajtazi (Roma minority), Robert Jankovics (Hungarian minority), and Vladimir Bilek (Czech and Slovak minorities).