Croatia’s Government To Be Formed with Right-wing Homeland Movement

Andrej Plenkovic (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Zvonimir KUHTIC)

The Croatian Democratic Union reached an agreement on May 8 with the right-wing Homeland Movement on forming the new parliamentary majority and future government, with the Union’s president and current PM Andrej Plenkovic remaining at its helm, it has been announced in Zagreb.

The government’s spokesman, Marko Milic of the Croatian Democratic Union, said after the meeting of the two parties’ negotiating teams that the agreement would be ratified by party organs, followed by the collection of signatures in support of mandating the president of the Croatian Democratic Union, Andrej Plenkovic, with composing the future government that will consist of his party, the Homeland Movement and other partners.

According to earlier announcements, Plenkovic will be supported by several MPs of the ethnic minorities, which he needs in order to muster the required 76 votes in the parliament. It is not yet known which minority MPs these would be, but it has been announced that they would not be the three Serb MPs from the Independent Democratic Serb Party, which participated in Plenkovic’s outgoing government and held the position of deputy prime minister. The Homeland Movement has conditioned their support to the Croatian Democratic Union with the Serb Party not being part of the parliamentary majority or the future government.

The president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party, MP Milorad Pupovac, has told the N1 TV that the eight minority MPs acted in unison and supported Plenkovic as designate prime minister, and that their caucus would decide which MPs would provide the signatures. “Our stance is that we support Plenkovic as designate PM, but we have differences regarding support for the composition of the new government,” Pupovac said.