Are we moving towards the endgame in the Croatian political election stalemate?
Yesterday evening, HDZ President Tomislav Karamarko commented on the latest political situation. Asked about a request by MOST for the prime minister to be a non-partisan person, Karamarko said that no one will impose conditions on HDZ, since this is a time of severe economic crisis and that no one can place any conditions. Asked whether this meant he would not agree to a non-partisan prime minister, Karamarko said that it was a matter of negotiations. On the further question what will happen if MOST insists on it, Karamarko said that was a hypothetical question, reports Vecernji List and Jutarnji List on December 11, 2015.
Commenting on claims that SDP and Zoran Milanović are gathering the majority of 76 MPs who will elect the Speaker of Parliament and in that way constitute the new Parliament, Karamarko stressed that SDP had been lying for four year and that it was possible they are lying now. “The government is trying to execute a coup, it is a disaster and it will fail. By electing the Speaker, they want to extend the term of this destructive incapable government as a caretaker government”, Karamarko said.
If Zoran Milanović were to succeed in electing the Speaker and constituting the Parliament, that would mean that President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović would not be able to call new elections until the Parliament dissolves itself, and she could not appoint a new caretaker non-partisan government. This would further mean that Zoran Milanović’s government would remain in office as caretaker government until possible new elections. Asked whether the president should appoint prime minister-designate before calling the new elections, Karamarko said that he would be happier if she had given the mandate to form a government to the relative winner of the elections, which is his Patriotic Coalition, but that there are different interpretations and that this is a question for constitutional experts.
In the meantime, rumours are getting louder about internal disagreements within MOST. Some of their elected representatives reportedly held a meeting on Tuesday, dissatisfied with the way MOST leadership is dealing with the latest negotiations. Jutarnji List reported that MOST leader Božo Petrov was also invited to the meeting on Tuesday, but did not come. The meeting included about ten members of MOST.
At this meeting, it was decided that new elections were not an option, even though Petrov had earlier announced such a possibility if both major coalitions reject his proposal for a tripartite government. “There will be no new elections”, said one of the participants of the meeting. “We will have a meeting of the National Council on Friday, and next week we will know more about the issue of the parliament and the government.”
“Now, after we have defined reforms and deadlines, all of MOST members of parliament can conduct individual negotiations, both for constitution of Parliament and for the formation of government, which, of course, does not mean that such individual negotiations will happen”, said a source from MOST.
