Damir Habijan voted in as new economy minister

Zagreb - The appointment of Damir Habijan of the HDZ party as the new economy and sustainable development minister was approved by the parliament on Wednesday with a tally of 77 in favour and 35 votes against, and one abstention.

Habijan is thus the third economy minister in the current cabinet.

MPs of the strongest Opposition party -- the Social Democratic Party (SDP) -- walked out of the parliament hall during the vote, with SDP chief Peđa Grbin saying his party did not want to participate in the vote, which he described as pointless.

After he was endorsed, Habijan was sworn in.

On Wednesday morning, the committees on economy and on environment protection also supported Habijan's nomination by a majority vote.

During the hearing before those committees the nominee said that in his work he would resolutely counter anything irregular or illegal.

"I won't tolerate any irregularities, improprieties or wrongdoing," Habijan said at a joint session of the committees on the economy and environmental protection prior to the parliamentary vote of confidence.

Habijan said the Economy and Sustainable Ministry was a "challenging" department, but that as a lawyer he had gained experience in the real sector.

As a lawyer, 95% of the cases I worked on included corporate law and I saw what can be aggravating for entrepreneurs on the market, he added.

The opposition said Habijan's appointment deserved "contempt" and called out Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for changing 30 ministers and many scandals, notably those involving the INA oil company, the HEP power company, and Mreža TV.