According to MP for Hungarian national minority, HDZ president Plenković will have their support.
The newly-elected representative of the Hungarian national minority in Parliament Robert Jankovics said on Friday that national minorities have agreed to support HDZ president Andrej Plenković as the future Prime Minister-Designate, adding that minorities should be an element of stability in the country, reports Večernji List on September 16, 2016.
“We, future MPs and members of the National Minorities Parliamentary Group, have agreed to support Andrej Plenković as the Prime Minister-Designate, who fortunately has a pro-European approach”, Jankovics told reporters after a meeting between representatives of national minorities and the HDZ leadership.
Asked whether national minorities had set any conditions for their support to the new ruling majority, he said that the situation in the country did not allow for any conditions to be set. He explained that during the meeting they had discussed principles that will be part of the final agreement, which they would like to be a part of the government’s programme as well.
“We believe that national minorities should be an element of stability in the country and we will do all we can in the next four years to support a stable government for the benefit of all citizens, including national minorities”, said Jankovics. He added that it was very important that all national minorities MPs remain united.
Jankovics denied that during the meeting they discussed the issue of whether current Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović will be a minister in the new government as well. “I think that Plenković has received the confidence of the Croatian people to lead the country, and national minorities will support the will of the Croatian people. The most important thing is for Plenković to become the Prime Minister and the leader, and it is primarily his responsibility who will lead each individual ministry”, said Jankovics.
However, on Thursday, SDSS vice president and MP for Serbian national minority Milorad Pupovac said that his party would definitely not support a government which would include Hasanbegović.
Jankovics has been elected to Parliament instead of Šandor Juhas, who represented the Hungarian minority in last Parliament. Juhas alleged there was an organized effort for voters to change their official nationality to Hungarian so they would vote for Jankovics. Since the number of voters who elect national minorities MPs is very small, even minor changes in the number of voters can have consequences for the final outcome. Juhas was in opposition in last Parliament, while Jankovics is considered to be close to HDZ.
