HDZ and SDP clash again over election of judges

Tensions are rising in domestic politics between the ruling Croatian Democratic Union and the opposition Social Democratic Party of Croatia over the appointment of new judges to the Constitutional Court of Croatia.

The HDZ says there was informal consensus on proposed candidates and plans to convene the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution by the end of the week to finalize a list. The goal is to fill three vacancies following a parliamentary vote scheduled for April 30.

The ruling party has accused the SDP of prolonging a process that has already been stalled for months.

Committee chairman Ivan Malenica said the HDZ put forward candidates it believed had opposition backing:

"I got the impression the whole time that they didn't really wanted to reach an agreement and that they were delaying the entire process. Therefore, we came up with specific proposals of names for whom I saw acceptance for during informal conversations with members of the opposition. In fact, these potential candidates fulfill everything they said in public about what those three judges of the Constitutional Court should be."

Another HDZ member, Nikola Mažar, said the nominees meet opposition expectations for professionalism, independence and integrity.

However, SDP representative Saša Đujić rejected those claims, accusing the HDZ of blocking not only these appointments but also the selection of a Supreme Court president.

According to the ruling majority, the proposed candidates are Supreme Court judge Željko Pajalić and lawyer Mladen Sučević. Their nominations are set to be discussed by the committee on Friday.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković defended the choices, questioning the opposition's motives:

"We offered two candidates that could not have fit the opposition's ideal candidate more perfectly. And yet, it's still no good. What's the problem? For months, we've seen an orchestrated false narrative that we're blocking this process. Or does the opposition - apparently, the SDP - not want to elect three new judges? The public must understand, the opposition does not want to fill these vacancies unless the candidates are legal professionals who are also politically and ideologically engaged on issues that interest the opposition. If that's the case, then who are the ones trying to politicize the Constitutional Court?"