First round of consultations concludes without a prime minister-designate.
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday held consultations with leaders of parliamentary parties elected to Croatian Parliament. As expected, no one had enough support to be named the Prime Minister-Designate. The President announced that the next round of consultations would take place on 10 October, while the first session of new Parliament would take place on 14 October.
Consultations began with representatives of national minorities. All eight MPs said they were in negotiations with HDZ and that the negotiations were going as planned, but added that they still had not given their signatures of support to Andrej Plenković, HDZ president and likely new Prime Minister.
HSLS president Darinko Kosor announced that his party had already given its support to Plenković, which was expected since they went to the polls on joint electoral lists. Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić said that his parliamentary group would cooperate with the future government. HSU’s Silvano Hrenja said that his party would not support Plenković and would remain in opposition.
IDS president Boris Maletić said his party would have its own parliamentary group. “We will protect civil rights and rights of minorities. We advocate for decentralization of Croatia, and we have out proposals for development of tourism and regional development. Istria has demonstrated that it knows what should be done and IDS will propose its own projects.” He added that a right-centre government was not acceptable to them.
Ivan Pernar from Živi Zid said he could not support a government that would subordinate national interests to Washington or Brussels. “I would give my signature to Plenković if he were ready to turn his back to the elite and turn towards his own people. We are ready to support anyone who is ready to be a statesman, and not a puppet on a string.”
HSS president Krešo Beljak did not give a clear answer whether his party would give their signatures of support to Plenković. “There is a possibility that signatures will not be collected at all.”
HNS president Ivan Vrdoljak said his party would remain in opposition. “We expect that HDZ and MOST will form a government. We have congratulated them and they need to take responsibility. We do not have time for long negotiations.”
MOST leader Božo Petrov was hopeful that a government would be formed soon. “For our part, we hope that a government will be formed because it is necessary for all state systems to start functioning. MOST is in negotiations with HDZ. Once we agree the whole package, then we will give our signatures of support for such a government”, said Petrov.
Milanka Opačić and Siniša Hajdaš Dončić represented SDP at the consultations. “We have told the President that we will be in opposition, advocate for the values of social democracy and fight for everything our voters demand. We are obliged to represent their ideas and to control the majority which will form the government. A lot of time has been lost, we want the government to be stable”, said Opačić.
The last one to meet with the President was HDZ leader Andrej Plenković. “We had the first round of consultations with the President”, said Plenković. “We have informed her about the progress of negotiations. The discussions so far give us assurance that we will soon be in a situation to have more than 76 signatures required. We are optimistic and we will continue with negotiations”, said Plenković. He explained that they wanted the government to be composed of ministers from HDZ and MOST, and added that he had also talked with HSS president Krešo Beljak.
After the consultations ended, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović gave a statement. “Consultations have demonstrated that no one has the necessary majority of MP’s signatures to receive a mandate to form a new government. I have to express satisfaction with the pace of negotiations, during which everybody demonstrated constructiveness and responsibility for forming a stable government”, said the President. She added that the next round of consultations would be held on 10 October, while the first session of new Parliament would take place on 14 October.
