Croatian parliament elects new speaker

Gordan Jandrokovic from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was elected on Friday as the new speaker of the Croatian parliament, local media reported.

Jandrokovic was elected with 76 votes, the minimum needed for a majority in the 151-seat assembly, succeeding Most party's Bozo Petrov who resigned on Thursday.

His election raised the possibility of HDZ to reshuffle the cabinet to avoid an early election after the coalition between HDZ and Most( Bridge) Party broke down.

Most's support to opposition in a no-confidence vote against Finance Minister Zdravko Maric triggered its row with HDZ, as a result, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic fired three of Most's ministers, and then the Most quitted the government.

On Thursday, Most leader Bozo Petrov resigned as parliament speaker after Maric survived the no-confidence vote.

Now the prime minister must name four new ministers to replace those from Most, but the parliament would not vote them until early next month due to parliament breaks for campaigning for two rounds of municipal elections which was scheduled on May 21 and June 4.

The parliament could reconvene on June 7 or shortly before, according to a parliamentary official.

Source: Xinhua