ZAGREB, May 5, 2018 – The leadership of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on Friday evening convened in the Adriatic city of Šibenik for the presentation of a blueprint for the party’s new statute, and HDZ chief and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković informed them about the preparations for an HDZ convention, scheduled for 26 May in Zagreb.
“Colleague Karlo Ressler, who chairs the task force in charge of preparing the document, has outlined a draft version of the new statute of HDZ. We have held a discussion. There are a few suggestions for possible modifications of the text. The task force will take into consideration the proposals and will draw up a final draft,” Plenković said after the meeting in Šibenik.
The final draft will be considered by the main committee on 24 or 25 May. “The new statute is a step forward towards the democratisation of the party processes,” Plenković said.
Asked by the press about the plans to scale down the number of HDZ vice-presidents by two, while currently there are one deputy president and six vice-presidents, Plenković said that the new concept envisaged an inner presidency and extended presidency.
The inner presidency is supposed to have 10 members, and the extended presidency is to include all those elected plus the leaders of county organisations,” Plenković said, adding that he found this solution to be good and functional. He expressed satisfaction with the party’s consolidation, notably in the financial terms.
Asked by the press about Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović’s statement that she has a set of democratic revival measures in the pipeline, Plenković said that all initiatives conducive to the demographic revitalisation were welcome, including the president’s ideas.
“I think that it is good that the president, her aides and all who would like to contribute to efforts to solve this issue make their proposals. The government has already done much in this context. I can recall that we have decided on a rise in parental allowances, state subsidies for first-home buyers, a wider range for child benefits, investments in building pre-school institutions and a set of many other measures,” the prime minister said.
