Plenković and Milanović Confident of Victory in Elections, Šeks on the Unconstitutionality of Milanović’s Move

With shouts of victory, victory, the membership of HDZ welcomed the speech of the party president Andrej Plenković at the 20th congress where he announced plans if HDZ wins the elections again, and stated that as of yesterday Peđa Grbin is no longer the president of SDP, and Zoran Milanović is not the president of the state.

Plenković called Milanović’s announcement to run as the SDP candidate in the parliamentary elections a precedent.

– At the central committee of SDP, we saw one message – neither is Grbin the president of SDP, nor is Milanović the president of the Republic. And that is all I will say about that precedent because for us, given our results, our achievements, our vision… political competitors are not a problem. What we are interested in is strengthening Croatian institutions, acting in crises, helping those in need, and we bring experience that no one else has – said Plenković.

He assessed that Milanović’s decision to hold elections on Wednesday puts Croats outside Croatia, especially in BiH, in an unequal position, since it will not be a non-working day for them.

HDZ, he emphasized, is entering the elections with experience that no one else has and responded to the opposition’s claims about the catastrophic situation in the country by listing the achievements of the government he has led in the past two terms – the Pelješac Bridge, Corridor Vc, completion of the Istrian Ypsilon, the second tube of the Učka tunnel, expressways, resolution of the crisis in Agrokor, response to the corona crisis, aid packages for citizens and the economy, entry into the eurozone and the Schengen mechanism, etc.

This is certainly a catastrophe, he ironically commented on the opposition’s thesis and emphasized that they do not have a single argument for such a claim.

– We have no weak points – he asserted. Comparing the achievements of his two governments with the former SDP government, he urged voters to think carefully about whether they want to go ‘back to the old and bad’ or support the continuity of a secure, serious government that will continue to work for Croatia.

He announced that HDZ, if it regains the trust of voters, will strive to ensure the continuation of stable GDP growth to reach 80 percent of the average level of development of the European Union.

By the end of the term, the plan is, he said, to reach an investment ‘A’, raise the average monthly net salary to 1,600 euros and the minimum gross salary to 1,250 euros, ensure a place in kindergarten for every child in Croatia, and invest more than two billion euros in educational infrastructure.

For every born child, mothers will receive one year of pensionable service, and the retirement age will be reduced by one year for each child. He also announced an increase in pensions over the next four years by an additional 20 percent.

“We will raise the gross added value of Croatian agriculture above two billion euros, and we will double the share of waste recycling from the current one to two-thirds,” announced Plenković.

Milanović: There Will Be No Unconstitutionality

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović told citizens on Sunday that they can be calm because he will participate in the upcoming elections as a candidate for prime minister and win, regardless of what HDZ members will say and what decision their constitutional judges will make.

– Andrej Plenković and his HDZ members have been aware since yesterday that they are losing the elections for the Croatian Parliament. And that is why they immediately, in fear of defeat, started to challenge the constitutionality of my participation in the parliamentary elections. But whatever they say and whatever decision HDZ’s constitutional judges make, you can be calm. I will participate in these elections as a candidate for prime minister and win – he stated on his Facebook profile on Sunday.

He says that ‘if the constitutional judges execute the cowardly order of Plenković, as they obediently executed all his orders in recent years’, and prevent him (Milanović) from being a candidate on the list in the first electoral unit in which he (Plenković) is also competing, ‘our coalition’s list will still win’.

He also stated that he will not resign from the position of President of the Republic because he does not want to hand over all power in Croatia to Plenković and HDZ.

Do not forget, if I resign from the position of President of the Republic before winning these elections and before the election of a new President of the Croatian Parliament, the duty of President of the Republic would temporarily be taken over by HDZ member Gordan Jandroković. Thus, Plenković and Jandroković would, in that case, govern the state, taking absolute power in Croatia. That is what they actually want, to dominate and enslave all institutions of the Croatian state. I am sure that the Croatian people will not allow them to do that, wrote Milanović.

He emphasizes that there will be no unconstitutionality in the transfer of power after winning the elections.

As President of the Republic, I will be a candidate for prime minister (on the list or not, it is completely the same), after our victory in the elections and after the constitution of the new convocation of the Croatian Parliament, I will resign from the position of President of the Republic, and I will be replaced in the position of President of the Republic – as strictly prescribed by the Constitution in Article 97 – by the newly elected President of the Croatian Parliament (and that will not be HDZ member Jandroković). After I gather a majority of representatives, I will ask the acting President of the Republic to entrust me with the mandate to form a new government.

Remember, only you decide who will win the elections, neither the constitutional judges, nor the HDZ cabal, only you!, Milanović told the citizens.

Šeks: This Even the Wildest Imagination Cannot Conceive

HDZ doyen Vladimir Šeks said on Sunday that he was not surprised by Zoran Milanović’s decision to enter the race for the parliamentary elections as the current President of the Republic and for the position of Prime Minister because, he says, anything can be expected from him, even the most absurd things.

– We probably have not yet exhausted all the repertoire of his wonders. He behaves like a court jester, Charlie Chaplin, speaks of Greek tragedy, Croatia as a tragedy, and he is a president who revives a tragicomedy – said Šeks to reporters at KD Vatroslav Lisinski where the HDZ reporting congress is being held.

Joking aside, he added, this is a perfidious and crude attack on the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia. While (Milanović) is President of the Republic, Šeks emphasized, he cannot engage in any party politics, and especially cannot run for the Croatian Parliament elections under the guise of a non-party candidate, but on the party list of SDP or any other party.

– I am deeply convinced that the Constitutional Court will give its assessment that his behavior is unconstitutional and that he cannot, while being President of the Republic, be on the list of one party for parliamentary elections. If Milanović does not accept this, I believe that the DIP will annul the list in the first electoral unit and that way cause enormous damage to SDP – said Šeks.

He pointed out that in that case there is another possibility prescribed by Article 97 of the Constitution, which states that in the case of prolonged incapacity due to illness or disability, and Šeks believes that Milanović has shown with this move that he is incapable of performing his fundamental duty of protecting the Constitution, the Constitutional Court may decide, at the proposal of the Government, to entrust the duty of acting President of the Republic to the President of the Croatian Parliament.

– This even the wildest imagination cannot conceive. His situation as President of the state is such that he is no longer president – formally he is, but de facto he is no longer, he has placed himself on the other side of the Constitution – he concluded.