HDZ MPs laughed and loudly disrupted SDP leader Šinisa Hajdaš Dončić as he spoke about citizens struggling to meet daily expenses with low wages. After Hajduš Dončić mentioned the name 'Marica', laughter and heckling erupted from the HDZ benches.
The noise was such that Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrović intervened. He told MPs: 'I am asking you, I am asking, a little discipline.'
Hajduš Dončić, in the name of the opposition, presented the motion for a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's government. He began by outlining the chronology of the illegal waste disposal incident in Gospić, stating that it occurred because state institutions were not functioning as they should.
He then spoke about healthcare and the daily problems faced by citizens, citing examples of people who rely on neighbours' help because the system, in his words, does not provide adequate support. He mentioned Marica, Slavko, and Ante to illustrate the consequences of low wages and rising living costs.
'Marica is reading out the bills. The neighbour, Slavko, lives opposite. Less pension, same electricity bill. And now that neighbour, Slavko, no longer goes for a coffee. Not because he doesn't like coffee, but because coffee is an expense for him,' said Hajduš Dončić. He described the example of Ante, who relies on help from his neighbours. 'Ante has a garden and neighbours who help him. Ante will manage. But what is happening, that is not the system, it is the neighbourhood,' he said.
Hajduš Dončić continued speaking after Jandrović's intervention, emphasising that mutual help among citizens cannot replace the functioning of state institutions. 'That gap is not filled by neighbours. What fills the gap is human. And that is proof that something is wrong,' he said.
