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Croatia opposition parties call for elections in mass protest – JURIST

Protestors organized by centrist and left-wing opposition parties gathered in Zagreb, Croatia on Saturday to oppose the current government and call for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections to be held immediately.The protest was held to demonstrate opposition against a number of actions taken by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s government, including a bill known as “Lex AP,” which criminalizes leaking information from police investigations. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) claims this will lead to the persecution of journalists who write about crime, not those who commit crime. The protest was also in demonstration against the election of Ivan Turudic on February 7 as the new state attorney general. His appointment received widespread criticism from political parties, as Turudic has been accused of having connections with individuals involved in corruption.Eleven opposition political parties, including SDP, Mozemo!, Centar, IDS, HSS and Radnička fronta, Fokus, Social Democrats, Reformists and GLAS, organized the demonstration, which was attended by an estimated 10,000 people. Pedja Grbin of the SDP and Sandra Bencic of Mozemo! were in attendance, both making speeches to the crowds of people. Protestors were seen waving flags and signs as they called for the dissolution of the Croatian Parliament and for elections to be moved forward.The Croatian Democratic Union has been in power in Croatia since 2016, with an SDP Prime Minister last being in office in 2011. The SDP has claimed that the current government puts Croatia’s democracy at risk, and many protestors chanted “Enough is enough.” Croatia is set to have both parliamentary and presidential elections before the end of 2024.