Several thousand people gathered Saturday in the Croatian capital at an anti-government rally organised by the opposition that seeks immediate elections, regularly due this year, accusing the rulers of corruption.
The protest dubbed “It’s enough! To elections now!” was organised by 11 left-wing opposition parties.
It was sparked by the recent appointment of a high-ranking judge as the country’s new state attorney general, the nomination that sparked controversy for his alleged links with corruption suspects.
Judge Ivan Turudic, backed by the government and appointed by the lawmakers earlier this month, repeatedly dismissed the allegations about his links with corruption suspects.
His nomination is the “final straw… the government no longer has any legitimacy and must leave”, Sandra Bencic, an MP of the Mozemo (“We Can” in Croatian) party, said earlier.
Croatia has to hold regular parliamentary elections by September 22, but the date has not been fixed yet.
The protesters gathered at St Mark’s Square, in the central old part of Zagreb where the government and parliament buildings are located, as well as in adjacent streets.
“Rubicon was crossed” and “Enough of corruption and crime”, read some of the banners they carried.
“Enough of tyranny, enough of lies, enough of corruption, enough of (ruling) HDZ” party, leader of the main opposition Social Democrats (SDP) Pedja Grbin told the crowd.
The protesters chanted “It’s enough, it’s enough” and “AP leave” in a reference to conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s initials.
“Nepotism and corruption are the cancer of this country, that’s why young Croatians are leaving,” protester Mario Topic, an administrator in his 50s, told AFP echoing the views of many who attended the rally.
Reform of the judiciary and fighting corruption were among key criteria Croatia had to meet to eventually join the European Union in 2013.
