Former Split mayor ready for the campaign trail.
The Croatian Civic Party (HGS) will independently take part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the ninth and tenth constituency, and not in a coalition with HDZ, which was the case last time. That has been announced by Željko Kerum, the former Split mayor and current member of parliament and president of HGS, reports Dalmatinski Portal on September 14, 2015.
“I am not so optimistic that I would tell you that we will certainly gain three or four seats in the parliament, but when we take into account the votes we had in the last election, we will at least have 25,000 votes, and only 14,000 votes are required to get into the parliament. I will not say we will cross the electoral threshold for sure, but we have a chance and we are going to try”, said Kerum.
He added that, unfortunately, the media are talking about “everyone and everything”, but no one is talking about HGS. “When you look at surveys, they are mentioning independent lists and parties which are not in the parliament, and they forget the party which already is there. They have done their calculations too early. You will see after the election, I am sure we have a chance to remain a parliamentary party”, said Kerum.
He is aware that it will be difficult to repeat the results from the last elections, but according to all indications they have enough people who believe them. He added that the party will field its candidates since that is an obligation to the people who created that political option. “Promises are one thing, while actions are another. We have mostly done what we have promised. In Croatia, it is clear what the electoral manifesto needs to be. We have a beautiful country and the potential which we should use”, explained Kerum.
When asked to comment on the bickering between the leaders of SDP and HDZ Zoran Milanović and Tomislav Karamarko, Kerum said that it seems they are currently tied.
“Small parties like HDSSB and IDS will play a significant role, but very few independent lists or parties will enter the parliament”, concluded Kerum.
