Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Zoran Milanovic on Friday called on the government to assume political responsibility and courage, to take a clear position on whether a referendum on labour legislation should be called or not, and to inform the parliamentary majority of its decision.
"Those who have the political responsibility and courage will do that and those who don't will stall," Milanovic told a news conference in SDP headquarters, urging the government to clearly state its position on the referendum.
Milanovic said that out of fear of public disapproval, the government declined to take a clear position on calling the referendum at its session on Thursday and instead pointed to irregularities found while checking voters who signed the petition for the referendum against government-sponsored amendments.
"The government is in fact trying to tell us that the signatures were manipulated, that more than a half were collected unlawfully. Let them go all the way and show courage and determination to say, We will advise our parliamentary majority to vote against the referendum," Milanovic said.
Croatian People's Party (HNS) president Radimir Cacic also said that the government's criticism concerning the credibility of the collected signatures was a sign of lack of courage and proof of the government's incapability and lack of respect for legal norms.
Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) vice president Damir Kajin stressed that if the government could doubt 500,000 signatures, it was questionable if it was ready to respect the will of the people at parliamentary elections. He said the Opposition should invite international observers to monitor the elections.
Milanovic said Croatia no longer needed international observers.
