The end of the soap opera, 100% today… or will it be?
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović will hold the fifth and last round of consultations about forming a new government, after which we should know who the next prime minister will be. Last night, the Patriotic Coalition and MOST presented signatures of 78 members of parliament and have proven that they have the support of the parliamentary majority. It they do not agree on the name of the prime minister-designate, the President will appoint an interim government and call early parliamentary elections, reports Jutarnji List, Vecernji List and Index.hr on December 23, 2015.
On Tuesday evening, after the fourth round of consultations, the President announced that this will be the last round of negotiations. The Patriotic Coalition leader Tomislav Karamarko and MOST president Božo Petrov brought their signatures to the President on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier in the day, MOST had broken up coalition talks with SDP-led Croatia Is Growing coalition, claiming that SDP tried to convince individual MPs from MOST to support Zoran Milanović as prime minister instead of Božo Petrov. SDP has denied these charges and claimed that MOST just wanted an excuse to cross over to HDZ.
Consultation with leaders of parliamentary parties and elected members of parliament will start at 2 pm and are scheduled to last until 6.30 pm.
The talks between the Patriotic Coalition and MOST about forming a new government lasted until the late evening. Upon leaving the meeting with Tomislav Karamarko, Božo Petrov said that they were still negotiating about who will be the prime minister. “We have 24 hours, so we cannot waste any more time”, Petrov said after leaving MOST headquarters and added that they have discussed the proposals from both sides.
Asked whether they are getting closer to the name, Karamarko said that they were discussing some “interesting names”. “Tomorrow, when we visit the President, you will know everything”, Karamarko said. “I think it will be a strong and expert person”, Karamarko said.
Jutarnji List reports that rumours which have circulated in recent weeks that MOST was divided were proven on Monday evening, when majority of the MPs confirmed that they do not want to enter into a government with SDP. The beginnings of the drama were felt on Monday night when the gap between the right and the left wing of MOST appeared. Members of the right wing refused to give their signatures for the government coalition with Milanović, while the left wing advocated giving signatures to Croatia Is Growing coalition. “Božo, sign it, they gave us everything they could, we asked for eight ministries and we got the prime minister and seven ministries”, reportedly said Ivan Kovačić, mayor of Omiš. Božo Petrov failed to reach a consensus within MOST and announced that they will seek a delay. The next day, everything changed.
