The Patriotic Coalition is no more.
HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Monday afternoon that HDZ will participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections without national coalition partners, but that it will have individual partners in certain parliamentary constituencies, reports Index.hr on July 25, 2016.
“The unanimous decision of party Presidency, National Council and Main Committee is that we will go to the polls alone at the national level, and that in certain constituencies we will enter into partnership with various partners. This was the main decision reached today”, said Plenković. He added that party general secretary Domagoj Ivan Milošević had been replaced with Gordan Jandroković.
Plenković announced that the current members of the Patriotic Coalition would be presented with HDZ’s position. “We will agree on the programme cooperation and I think it will be a recognisable cooperation of centre-right parties”, he said. Asked about the future cooperation between HDZ and HSP-AS, Plenković said that HSP-AS was the only partner which insisted on a national coalition. But HDZ decided in favour of a different approach. He said that, as the new HDZ president, he would not allow anyone to blackmail his party. “We respect everything that HSP-AS has given us, but in the new circumstances we have a new concept which we think will be successful in September”, he stressed.
Plenković said that HDZ was in negotiations with HRID, led by former HDZ deputy president Drago Prgomet, as well as several other parties, and that the final decision would be made by HDZ this week. Asked whether that meant that the Patriotic Coalition no longer existed, Plenković responded affirmatively. “That coalition does not exist anymore, primarily because HSS, one of the key parties in the coalition, has made the decision to leave”, he said.
Plenković repeated that HDZ was the strongest Croatian party. “We will approach the elections boldly, based on the programme compatibility with smaller partners, and we want to achieve synergy where it is possible and necessary. However, everyone must know that HDZ is the leader”, he said.
Plenković also said that on Wednesday he would present the party manifesto to the rest of the leadership, while the public would see it next week. He pointed out that the manifesto would have five key points: restoration of HDZ’s credibility, political stability in the country, the rule of law, framework for economic growth and development, and implementation of Christian principles of solidarity on the basis of social justice and inclusion.
