HDZ president has 30 days to form a government.
On Monday, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović named HDZ president Andrej Plenković as Prime Minister-Designate, after he demonstrated that he enjoys support of more than half of members of Parliament, reports Jutarnji List on October 10, 2016.
The President met with Plenković at her office. He showed her signatures of support from 91 MPs. It takes 76 MPs to form a ruling majority. Plenković is supported by 61 MPs from HDZ and its partners, 14 MPs from MOST, 8 MPs from national minorities, 5 MPs from HSS and 3 MPs from the Bandić Milan 365 Parliamentary Group.
After the meeting, both the President and the Prime Minister-Designate spoke to reporters. Plenković thanked the President, saying that it was a great responsibility and honour for him. He added that the priorities of the government will primarily relate to the economy, jobs, competitiveness, demographic renewal, rule of law, and political stability.
“Croatia’s challenges are not only internal, but also external. And, in this regard, I expect an efficient, close and good cooperation with the President”, said Plenković. He announced that the government’s programme would primarily be focused on the economy. “We will invest in generators of growth in sectors of agriculture, industry, tourism and other activities, as well as strengthen the state institutions. It is important for Croatia to be a modern, European country in which all our citizens will feel at ease, which will respect human and minority rights, and that is the reason why I insisted that all eight national minorities MPs should support the future government”, said Plenković. He stressed that the government would include women ministers, “contrary to speculations in recent days”.
President Grabar-Kitarović congratulated Plenković and said she hoped he would form a government as soon as possible. “I believe that today we are entering into a new phase of political life, with cooperation dominating Croatian political and social life”, she added.
The first meeting of the new Parliament will take place on Friday afternoon. It is expected that MOST leader Božo Petrov will be elected as Speaker of Parliament. Although the constitutional deadline for forming a government is 30 days, it is believed that Plenković will ask Parliament to vote on his cabinet as early as the beginning of next week.
