Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images Croatia’s junior government party quits coalition Centrist party refused to back finance minister.

The junior partner in Croatia’s government on Friday said its four ministers would no longer be part of the center-right governing coalition following an argument about the future of the country's finance minister, AP reported.

"By this we show that our primary goal is not keeping posts, but to prevent a constitutional crisis," said Božo Petrov, the leader of the centrist Most party, according to Reuters.

Most has refused to back Finance Minister Zoran Marić, a former executive at Croatia's biggest private firm, Agrokor. Opposition parties demanded his resignation over his involvement in a financial scandal at the firm.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday fired three of Most’s cabinet ministers for failing to support Marić.

The move is likely to trigger an early election, but Plenković said he was confident of securing a new parliamentary majority.

His Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Most formed a government in October last year after the collapse of the previous government led to months of political uncertainty.