Vrdoljak’s Irrational Claims That the Ruling Party Wants to Attract Some Opposition Representatives

The president of HNS, Ivan Vrdoljak, referred to media reports claiming that the ruling coalition is trying to strengthen its parliamentary majority by attracting some independent representatives as an “irrational thesis.”

“The information that I or anyone else from the ruling majority is recruiting potential representatives is mere speculation and should not be wasted on too much time,” said Vrdoljak. He added that it is an irrational thesis.

Some media outlets report that the ruling coalition is trying to “thicken” the parliamentary majority and that Ivan Vrdoljak is negotiating with some members of SDP, specifically mentioning Milanka Opačić and Igor Dragovan, as well as former SDP member Miranda Mrsić. Opačić and Orepić declined to answer journalists’ questions about these speculations, while Mrsić denied any such contacts.

>>>Vrdoljak: The Coalition is Stable

The president of the HDZ parliamentary club, Branko Bačić, commenting on these and other media speculations, told N1 that there are no problems with the functioning of the ruling majority, which has 77 representatives, and that they will strive to gain more votes with quality laws.

Vrdoljak stated at today’s press conference in Koprivnica that the Government, as well as HNS, must put their activities into fifth gear following the European Commission’s report, which assessed that the growth of the Croatian economy continues, although it is slowing down slightly, but remains slower than in comparable member countries.

“It is necessary to accelerate all reform processes that we want to initiate ourselves, as well as those that the European Commission warns us about. For this reason, we decided to visit all county organizations, including this one in Koprivnica-Križevci,” said Vrdoljak, adding that the Koprivnica-Križevci County needs a strong HNS, as it represents a policy of cooperation, decency, and results.

>>>Plenković’s ‘As Solid as Concrete Coalition’ Held a Four-Hour Meeting, Peruško Also Stopped By

Vrdoljak also commented today on media speculations about the reconstruction of the Government, stating that he has no ambitions to take over any of its departments.

“We have not concretized discussions about the reconstruction of the Government. We talked about the national reform plan and the European Commission’s report. These were the dominant topics of coalition meetings. The reconstruction of the Government is a topic that only the Prime Minister has the right to put on the table,” said Vrdoljak.