According to media reports, it is likely that Plenković, unless his party wins parliamentary elections in September, will remain as Member of European Parliament.
It seems that “Plenexit” will not happen. Andrej Plenković, who will on Sunday be elected as the new HDZ president as the only candidate, will not resign from European Parliament before parliamentary elections in September. So, he will lead his party into the elections as an MEP, and it is possible that he will remain an MEP even after the elections if HDZ returns to opposition. If HDZ wins and Plenković becomes the Prime Minister or enters the government in some other capacity, then he will have to resign, reports Večernji List on July 15, 2016.
His election campaign did not want to discuss what would happen if HDZ were to go into opposition, believing that the only option is for Plenković to become Prime Minister, and therefore did not want to say what would happen with Plenković’s European career if HDZ were to lose the elections. It seems that it is possible that in that case Plenković would keep his seat in Brussels, which would mean that HDZ president would not be an MP in the Croatian Parliament. This would be the first such situation in Croatian politics – to have a leader of the opposition who is not a member of Parliament.
It is quite possible that Plenković’s decision to go to the polls as an MEP will create problems for him and HDZ. He will certainly be attacked by political opponents from other parties that he is keeping a “backup option” in Brussels, although as HDZ president he should devote himself to Croatian national politics. In addition, he will be accused of wanting to continue receiving an MEP salary, which is substantially higher than salaries of members of Croatian Parliament. It is known that MEPs earn around 6,000 euros a month, but since Plenković is Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, his salary is substantially higher. Croatian MPs receive about 2,000 euros a month.
“If he decided to run for the HDZ president, he should have resigned the very same day. We realize that money is at stake, but that will be a minus for him and the party”, said a source from HDZ leadership who added that the party could not be lead from Brussels.
Plenković points out that he is in Brussels only three and a half days a week and that he has a very good insight in all Croatian counties. His team says there is no reason for him to resign just yet. “European Parliament is in summer break until September. Then he will become the Prime Minister and resign as an MEP”, say his associates.
