At the beginning of the first session of the new parliament on Friday, opposition MPs criticised the new government's programme and the governing coalition of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Domovinski pokret (DP).

The Most party MP, Miro Bulj, described the government programme as empty and said that there was a new Ministry of Demography, which was part of other ministries and for which the government programme did not even provide a separate office.

He drew particular attention to the problem of illegal migration. “National security is under threat and the state has a constitutional duty to protect the border, but illegal migrants are still entering the country every day.”

“The DP will try to cancel the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and take away women’s right to choice”

MP Sanja Radolovic (SDP party) criticised the government programme, saying it amounted to the division of posts between the HDZ and the “old HDZ”, a reference to the Domovinski pokret. She claimed that the programme was a copy of the 2016 government programme, in which the HDZ had placed the emphasis on demography but did nothing in this regard.

The bone of contention of the new government will be ideology, as the DP will try to cancel the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and take away women’s right to choice, which will be the beginning of the end of the new government, she said.

Radolovic also pointed out that the new government has the largest number of deputy prime ministers ever, seven.

Marijan Pavlicek (Croatian Sovereignists, Law and Justice, Independent Josip Jurcevic) recalled that the DP had filed a criminal complaint against Plenkovic, claiming that he was lying and that his government was a government of traitors, only to enter into a coalition with the HDZ.

“They will not fulfil 90% of their promises”

Pavlicek said that none of the DP’s promises before the election – deployment of the army at the border, abolition of quotas for foreign workers, the fight against corruption and deratification of the Istanbul Convention – would be fulfilled.

“They will not fulfil 90% of their election promises, but they will secure posts for themselves,” he said, adding that the DP had deceived its voters.

Marija Selak-Raspudic (Independent-Fokus) complained that she had only received the government programme around midnight. Obviously, nobody expected the MPs to read it and discuss it seriously.

With regard to demographics, she said that the government announced numerous discounts on public services for families with several children, but did not specify them.

The programme also includes care for ethnic minorities. “If they have been threatened by anyone, it is those who are now trying to offer a solution,” she said.