SDP rejects the grand coalition suggested by MOST.
“SDP cannot and does not want to participate in a tripartite government with HDZ like it exists today. Our doors are still open for MOST and we invite them to join us and our partners and constitute the Parliament, form the parliamentary majority and a new government. Zoran Milanović has full support to become prime minister-designate” – these were the main conclusions of yesterday’s session of SDP Main Council, reports Vecernji List on December 13, 2015.
That was also SDP’s response to request by MOST for both the left and right coalitions to say whether they agree with the idea of tripartite government and a non-partisan prime minister. SDP president Zoran Milanović said yesterday that the SDP’s decision represents a refusal of HDZ, but not of MOST. Asked if he would be willing to accept HDZ without Tomislav Karamarko, Milanović answered: “I think I have said it all.”
“MOST is acceptable to us, we want to constitute the parliament and then form a parliamentary majority and government with them. We cannot work with HDZ like it exists today. For us, the proposal about tripartite government is untenable and it is incredible that people from MOST, especially those who have founded MOST on a platform of resistance to HDZ at the local level, were willing to accept it”, Milanović added.
SDP president also said that it was quite clear that some people from MOST want to rescue HDZ. In his speech to party colleagues, Milanović explained that the decision is not to reject MOST, but to be patient and that the whole process will continue for some time. Some in SDP believe that there are four members of parliament from MOST who will not support coalitions with neither SDP nor HDZ, which means that HDZ would not be able to form a majority.
Asked if he was ready to support Drago Prgomet for the Speaker of Parliament, Milanović said that he had a good opinion about him, but that current Speaker Josip Leko is also a possibility. “There are people in MOST who apparently cannot accept Prgomet as Speaker”, he concluded.
MOST leader Božo Petrov said yesterday that he hoped that the decision of SDP was not final. “I am sorry that SDP does not recognize the reasons why we need the consensus of the major parties”, Petrov said and added: “We hope that their decision is not final because the deadline is Monday.”
MOST spokesperson Nikola Grmoja said that SDP’s rejection of their proposals means that SDP has also rejected MOST, but that they would give them a possibility until Tuesday to change their minds, if HDZ decides to accept MOST’s proposal. “We will now wait for the answer of HDZ. If they make a decision similar to SDP, then the two parties should find a way out of this impasse. But if HDZ accepts MOST’s proposals, then we will continue discussions with them”, Grmoja said.
“We expected that the anti-reform SDP will reject MOST’s proposals, because Zoran Milanović has been trying for the whole week to do a parliamentary coup – forcedly form a parliamentary majority and by all available means prevent the victorious reformist forces to form a new government. Milanović’s caretaker government is concerned only with their own personal positions in government and privileges”, HDZ said in a statement.
