Presenting the new party on Wednesday, Penava said that he expected to be re-elected mayor and that he would continue to focus on the well-being of the town and its residents.
Even though it was speculated that Penava could run in the elections in a coalition with the Homeland Movement of Miroslav Škoro, Penava denied the speculation.
“We cooperate with the Homeland Movement and I headed their slate as an independent candidate in (the 2020) parliamentary elections. We have excellent cooperation and I’m still a member of their group in the parliament but the story of Vukovar began much earlier than the story of the Homeland Movement and it is more recognisable,” he said, adding that nonetheless he would seek and believed he would get the support of parties close to him.
He said that his party currently has around 300 members.
Penava was elected Vukovar mayor as a member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which he left in 2020 together with some of the HDZ councillors of the Vukovar Town Council.
He ran in the 5 July 2020 parliamentary election as an independent candidate on the slate of the Homeland Movement, whose leader Škoro recently called on him to join his party ahead of the local elections.
Penava said that he wanted to try his luck as an independent candidate with his own slate.
