SDP’s Main Committee makes decision on party’s coalition partners for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
SDP president Zoran Milanović confirmed on Saturday, after the session of the Main Committee, that the party had defined partners in the People’s Coalition for the forthcoming parliamentary elections – HNS, HSS and HSU, reports Večernji List on July 9, 2016.
“We have formed our campaign headquarters and we have defined our coalition partners. We will continue with governing after this strange intermezzo”, said Milanović to reporters. He confirmed that the Croatian Labour Party will no longer be part of the coalition, which will be called the People’s Coalition. “This is in fact a grand coalition, because it brings together left-wing, centre and centre-right parties, everything except right-wing parties, where HDZ belongs”, said Milanović.
He expects that the new coalition will achieve better result than the Croatia Is Growing coalition did at the elections in November. Asked about the distribution of ministries in the possible future government, he said they still had not discussed it, but that HNS and HSS will have to take over their part of responsibility. Milanović also expects that the candidate lists will be adopted at the next meeting of the Main Committee at the end of July.
Asked about possible cooperation with Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, Milanović said it was “difficult or impossible”. “You know what separates us, you know the history of relations between him and SDP, we do not need that kind of support”. said Milanović. He also said he was looking forward to peaceful campaign which he expected after the election of Andrej Plenković as new HDZ president. “It seems that we will finally have the opportunity to talk about policies, and not awake the ghosts of the past”, said Milanović. He added that he did not know how HDZ voters would react to the “tremendous shift” in party positions. “It seems to me that the shift is an illusion, because the president is only one member of the party, but it is up to them”, he said. He confirmed that he was ready to debate Plenković, adding that he was “pleased that, after nine years, finally someone has agreed to a debate”.
Milanović said he did not believe in the possibility of a ruling coalition reshuffle before the dissolution of Parliament on 15 July, which allegedly some HDZ’s MPs are advocating, and announced that his party would not take part in a possible parliamentary session. “Our wish was for Parliament to be dissolved on 18 June, and in the end that will happen on 15 July, due to interests of HDZ and MOST; it was their last coordinated act. There is no point in convening Parliament before dissolution”, he said. Milanović finally reiterated that SDP insisted on the implementation of the curriculum reform.
