Matkovic's letter and request will be addressed by the Privileges and Credentials Commission (MIP) in the coming days.

If the MIP grants Matkovic's request to take her seat in the highest law-making body, the Sabor can activate her mandate within eight days after the government officially relieves her of duty in the ministry.

Parliament Deputy Speaker Vladimir Seks of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) declined to comment on whether Matkovic's request was founded. Seks said that a decision to allow the reactivation of the mandate of any office-holder who wants to return to the parliament is within the remit of parliament after it receives the opinion of the Privileges and Credentials Commission.

Recently Seks claimed that Matkovic had no right to reactivate her parliamentary mandate as she failed to formally ask for this when she was relieved of duty as a minister without portfolio to assume the duty of state secretary in the economy ministry.

MIP vice-president Arsen Bauk of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) does not think that there is anything disputable in Matkovic's request, and refused interpretations that she had to ask for the reactivation of the parliamentary mandate during her transfer from one duty in the government to another.

Bauk believes that Matkovic's move was triggered off by her loyalty to Ivo Sanader, the former HDZ leader who is now an independent MP.

The head of the HDZ parliamentary caucus, Andrija Hebrang, said Matkovic had the right to activate the parliamentary mandate if "the parliamentary institutions in charge make an assessment to that effect in accordance with the law".

If she has this right, she is welcome in the HDZ club, Hebrang said, adding that he was not afraid of the possibility of Matkovic and Sanader setting up a new parliamentary club.

I don't see any reason for this long-standing HDZ activist to change clubs, he said.