On Wednesday, a majority of the Croatian parliament rejected a motion by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to dissolve parliament and hold immediate elections for the new, 11th parliament.

The motion by the largest opposition party was rejected by 78 members of the 151-seat parliament, while 59 members of the opposition bloc voted in favour of dissolution.

For the SDP’s motion to be accepted and parliament dissolved, 76 MPs would have had to vote in favour.

The proposal to dissolve parliament, which the SDP’s deputies’ club introduced into the procedure last December, triggered by the Mreza affair, was discussed in parliament last week and after 14 hours of debate it was clear that it does not have the support of the HDZ party and was probably doomed to failure.

Before today’s vote, the opposition again levelled accusations against the ruling HDZ party and insisted that parliament should be dissolved and elections held immediately.

All but 15 opposition MPs took part in today’s vote.

During the debate on Wednesday, SDP leader Pedja Grbin announced protest rallies throughout Croatia on 23 March.

Croatia will hold parliamentary elections this year and is waiting for the governing majority to set a date for the elections.