Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Pedja Grbin said on Monday that  that the opposition's motion for a no confidence vote against Health Minister, Vili Beros, would "help Beros leave the post after he had failed to conduct reforms and no longer enjoyed the support of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic."

“If you claim that you have put a healthcare reform proposal on the prime minister’s desk but that he doesn’t wish to implement it then you need to leave that system,” said Grbin, alluding to a recent statement made by Beros.

“Beros’ replacement is on the table. In serious countries, and in Croatia, ministers have been dismissed for far fewer reasons than this one. If Beros won’t go of his own accord, we will ensure that he is given a ‘nudge’,” said Grbin, listing Beros’ ‘mistakes’ from hospitals without medication, the debt in healthcare, the system of inoculation which isn’t functioning and currying favor with his friends.

SDP will discuss its motion for a no confidence vote with other opposition parties and decide when to launch the motion. However, it does not want that to be part of electioneering but wants an open and earnest debate on the problems in healthcare.

Grbin claimed that in addition to Beros, Prime Minister Plenkovic, and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) are responsible for the situation in healthcare and that when they came into power in 2016 they conducted an “attack on healthcare.” It suspended the overhaul of hospitals and attempted to increase the cost of health insurance and continued with the devastation of public healthcare under ministers Kujundzic and Beros.

Grbin added that privatisation of the healthcare system should not however be conducted at the expense of public health.

“Public health saved Croatia during the Covid crisis. We need to take care of that more than anything else and that is why we need to discuss what HDZ and Beros have done that has brought the system to its knees,” said Grbin.