"The reason for the replacement is that our former coalition partner (DC) has an identity crisis. It is impossible to be a minister five days a week and on the sixth day hold news conferences and attack the government whose member you are," Sanader said in parliament on Friday.
"Since the judiciary is an important sector, this became a burden for the government and the ministry," he added.
The PM called on MPs to support the government's proposal and give a vote of confidence in Ana Lovrin as new justice minister.
He said that Lovrin, an HDZ MP and chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on the judiciary, had earned their trust with her parliamentary work and as a former mayor and deputy mayor of Zadar.