Zagreb - The parliamentary Credentials and Privileges Commission on Monday postponed a decision on a request to lift the immunity of MP Dalija Orešković (DOSIP) after failing to secure a quorum.
Commission chairman Robert Jankovics said this was the first time in his roughly six years in the role that a meeting had lacked the required attendance, adding that a new session, likely in January, would be scheduled to decide whether to allow criminal proceedings against Orešković.
Members of the ruling coalition attended the meeting, while opposition lawmakers were absent.
The request was filed by Dobroslav Paraga, a former MP and ex-leader of the HSP 1861 party, who has brought a private defamation lawsuit against Orešković over remarks she made from the parliamentary rostrum. In such privately initiated cases, the commission has traditionally declined to lift MPs' immunity.
Orešković has nevertheless urged MPs to approve the request, arguing in an open letter on Facebook that the case goes beyond a personal dispute and touches on broader political and social issues. She said debates over the meaning of the "For the homeland ready" salute and the activity of HOS in the Homeland War have been used to distort history, with potentially lasting consequences for the Croatian state and society.
She added that lifting her immunity would signal resolve in confronting extremism and show she is not alone in advocating what she described as a more decent Croatia.