Milanovic said the opposition parties had the trust of hundreds of thousands of citizens, and that it was expected that the government ministers and their leader would come to the Croatian Parliament to explain who was behind such serious accusations. He added that the Prime Minister would have already come to Parliament if she had had such intentions.

Responding to the remark by the TV host that government spokesman Mladen Pavic repeated today that he stood by his statement and to the question whether the SDP, like the HNS, was also considering a defamation suit against the government, Milanovic said that a defamation suit would be pointless, although he said he had understanding for his colleagues from the HNS.

Milanovic insisted that the accusations made by Pavic were not his personal views, but those of the prime minister because he made those accusations in his capacity as a government spokesman. He said that such accusations should be taken even more seriously because the police had repeatedly denied any involvement of the opposition in the financing of rioting.

Commenting on opposition demands that the government fix a date for parliamentary elections, Milanovic said that the ball was now in the court of the prime minister and her coalition partners. He recalled that the opposition had been demanding an early election since the vote of no confidence in the government last October and that demonstrators were now demanding the same.

Milanovic said that the discontent manifested at protest rallies was the consequence of "hermetic institutions", "the stubborn attitude" of the government towards the public, and a series of insulting statements that prompted people to react spontaneously.