Zagreb - The new Croatian Parliament, which on Wednesday morning held its founding session, elected the five deputy speakers, three of whom come from the ruling majority and two from the Opposition.
The three deputy speakers nominated by the governing majority are Željko Reiner and Ante Sanader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Furio Radin, who is the ethnic Italian representative.
The election of Reiner and Sanader was supported by 136 and 134 deputies respectively, with the abstention vote given by Workers Front MP Katarina Peović.
Radin's election was supported unanimously with 143 votes.
The two deputy speakers from the Opposition ranks are Rajko Ostojić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Miroslav Škoro of the Homeland Movement (DP) party.
Ostojić's election was also unanimously supported by 143 MPs who participated in the voting.
Škoro's appointment was supported by 110 parliamentarians, with two abstentions and with Peović voting against it.
Several SDP MPs voted for Škoro's appointment whereas some of them did not attend the voting after a short meeting of the SDP club, which ensued after Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said that Škoro is one of the two nominees for the post of Deputy Speaker from the ranks of the Opposition.