While the terms of the agreement will be presented this afternoon, the media has already reported about the main points.
Less than a month after the parliamentary elections held on 11 September, MOST and HDZ have come to an agreement to form a government. While the terms of the agreement will be presented at a press conference later on Friday, the media is already reporting on the details.
In addition to HDZ and MOST, the government is likely to, at least initially, be supported by more than 90 MPs, which is substantially higher than 76 MPs needed to form a majority. The government will probably have the support of national minorities MPs, HSS, and Bandić Milan 365 Parliamentary Group.
HDZ president Andrej Plenković will on Monday present the signatures of support from MPs to President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who will officially appoint him as Prime Minister-Designate. He will then have 30 days to propose members of the government and ask Parliament for a vote of confidence. It is expected that it might happen much sooner than that, now that everything has been agreed. The first meeting of the new Parliament will take place on Friday, 14 October.
According to unofficial sources, HDZ and MOST have agreed that they will share the position of Speaker of Parliament. In the first two years, the Speaker will be MOST leader Božo Petrov, who will then be replaced by Gordan Jandroković, HDZ general secretary and former Foreign Minister.
MOST will have four ministers and one deputy prime minister position. Given the fact that it has been agreed that all four deputy prime ministers will also have their own departments, it is most likely that MOST’s deputy prime minister will be Vlaho Orepić, who will remain as Interior Minister. MOST will also get the Ministry of Administration, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Nature.
Unlike in the previous government, MOST will no longer control the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the important energy portfolio will be moved from the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, so MOST will continue to have influence in energy policy including the issue of INA, which was one of the main points of contention during the last government and which led to the collapse of the government. The Ministry of Environmental Protection will also probably take over the water management portfolio from the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to sources, some members of HDZ leadership fear that a similar situation from the last government could occur, when MOST and HDZ clashed repeatedly and the government was non-functional. However, this time HDZ is in a much better position, since it can probably muster a ruling majority even without MOST, so it is possible that after a while we might witness a coalition reshuffle.
