Battle over Constitutional Court overshadows vote for new Supreme Court president

Fourteen months after the unexpected death of Supreme Court President Radovan Dobronić, Croatian lawmakers are finally set to vote on his successor. 

But the political battle over vacancies on the Constitutional Court continues to deepen divisions between the ruling coalition and the opposition.

The Sabor debated on Tuesday the nomination of Mirta Matić, put forward by President Zoran Milanović and backed by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. She is expected to secure support from the ruling majority and left-wing parties in Friday’s vote.

At the same time, negotiations over three vacant seats on the Constitutional Court remain deadlocked. Electing constitutional judges requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, and no agreement has been reached between the governing coalition and the opposition.

Urša Raukar Gamulin of the opposition party Možemo! accused the HDZ of using the Supreme Court appointment as leverage in negotiations over the Constitutional Court.

“Andrej Plenković and the HDZ used the nomination of the Supreme Court president as a means of coercion and political bargaining to create a majority on the Constitutional Court,” she said.

HDZ lawmaker Nikola Mažar rejected the accusations during a heated exchange in parliament.

“You haven’t even managed to convince yourselves with your own argument. Croatian citizens know who is obstructing the court and they will see it during the vote,” Mažar said.

Damir Barbir, speaking on behalf of the Centar, NPS and GLAS parliamentary group, warned about what he described as growing dysfunction within Croatian institutions.

“We’ve been without a Supreme Court president for 14 months. Furthermore, we don’t have a full bench at the Constitutional Court. It begs the question: Do we even have a functioning state?” he said.

HDZ MP Krunoslav Katičić blamed the opposition for the impasse.

“Listening to these remarks, it is clear the opposition does not want to fill the seats in these institutions. And you will have to take responsibility for it,” he said.

Mišel Jakšić of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia accused the prime minister of trying to dominate state institutions.

“A firestorm of lies, and all of it boils down to one thing: Andrej Plenković’s strong desire to hold all the levers of power in Croatia,” Jakšić said.

Prime Minister Plenković later confirmed that the ruling majority would support Matić’s nomination and again urged opposition parties to accept the government’s proposal for Constitutional Court judges.

“Not only are they obstructing the three nominations — in violation of the Constitution and the law — they are also obstructing the work of the rest of the Constitutional Court,” Plenković said. “Citizens need to understand who is obstructing institutions and who wants to control them.”