HDZ president speaks five days before the elections.
One day after an interview with SDP president Zoran Milanović, on Monday evening RTL interviewed his main opponent, HDZ president Andrej Plenković. In the interview, Plenković replied to some of the criticism expressed by Milanović, who said that it was “ridiculous that someone who became a Croat at age 42 now talks about Croatianhood”, reports RTL on September 6, 2016.
“My ambition is to conduct public communication in this campaign at a high European level, as opposed to what leader of the opposition Milanović is doing, who is talking about members of other people’s families. He joined SDP when he was 35 years old, and I was a campaign manager of HDZ’s presidential candidate when I was 29. I do not know who is more credible here”, said Plenković, who added that the campaign had demonstrated that he and Milanović were not similar.
Plenković once again denied the possibility of a grand coalition between HDZ and SDP after the elections. “We have shown in the campaign how different we are. He is spent. If people want to choose what was bad, they can elect him. However, I can talk about strategic national interests with other political actors because I respect them. I do not try to disqualify them, which is what Milanović is doing”, he added.
Plenković was asked about his personal financial statement. “I do not have anything to hide. The declaration of my assets was published at the site of the Commission for Conflict of Interest Prevention at the time when I was a state secretary and an MP. I have an apartment, a car and income from salary, and this will again be published when it is needed”, said Plenković, who refused to disclose the amount of his savings.
Plenković was asked whether he intended to apologize to the public for all the HDZ’s corruption scandals. “HDZ is the party which has contributed the most to Croatian independence. There were errors committed in the process. As HDZ leader, I will try to correct everything that was not good, and I express regret for all the mistakes that were committed by some of my predecessors.”
Finally, Plenković was asked what will happen with former Prime Minister and HDZ president Jadranka Kosor, who has not been accepted back into the HDZ membership, unlike Drago Prgomet and Milan Kujundžić, two former high-ranking party officials who had left the party but have recently been admitted back and are even candidates for Parliament.
“They left HDZ because of disagreements with the then leadership and they decided to return. Kosor has been expelled from the party and therefore there is another procedure for her. We will talk about her ambitions, but I have not been in contact with her recently, and I have not received from her a congratulatory note when I became HDZ president”, concluded Plenković.
