New elections could bring an abrupt end to many political careers.
Voting for the dissolution of Parliament was an extremely difficult decision for at least some MPs. It is only understandable, considering that for many of them it is difficult to imagine how they could ever again sit on the parliamentary benches, reports Večernji List on June 28, 2016.
Among those most worried about their political future are MPs who entered Parliament as part of MOST, but later left the party. In particular, this applies to Ivan Lovrinović, Ivica Mišić and Jure Martinović, who left the party in the last minute, hoping that a coalition reshuffle would succeed and that they would belong to a new parliamentary majority. Although they plan to again stand as candidates, it is hard to see how they could reach the five percent electoral threshold without entering into some pre-election coalition.
Similar problems are shared by Gordana Rusak, another former MOST member, who left the party together with HRID’s Drago Prgomet and Irena Petrijevčanin-Vuksanović, but later again changed her mind, left HRID and became an independent MP and a member of the HSLS Parliamentary Group.
New elections will be a challenge for HRID as well, especially Irena Petrijevčanin-Vuksanović. “We will take part in the elections, but we will discuss the details next week. I am confident about the success”, said HRID president Drago Prgomet. He did not want to reveal whether they would enter into a pre-election coalition.
Former MOST member Stipe Petrina also claims he will be a candidate, perhaps together with HRID. “I am currently in negotiations. If everything else fails, I will stand as an independent candidate”, said Petrina.
Since Mirko Rašković became an MP as part of SDSS, after which he left the part and started supporting HDZ, it is quite certain that he will not be re-elected, unless HDZ decides to return the favour and puts him of their candidate list.
The autumn elections could also be uncertain for some members of the Patriotic Coalition, particularly if moderate Andrej Plenković becomes the new party president. The question is whether he will be as generous as Tomislav Karamarko was and bring to Parliament smaller right-wing parties like HSP AS, HRAST and HDS. BUZ president Milivoj Špika and HSLS’s MPs are in a similar situation.
Milan Bandić’s MPs and Radimir Čačić will also have to invest a lot of effort if they want to return to parliamentary benches.
