10th convocation of Croatian Parliament to be dissolved next Thursday

Speaking at Friday's cabinet session Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced that the 10th convocation of parliament will be dissolved next Thursday, thus confirming unofficial information that surfaced after the recent meeting of the coalition government and putting to rest endless speculation in recent days.

Once the parliament is dissolved President Zoran Milanović will set a date for the parliamentary elections. Currently there are four dates being mentioned, the 14th, 21st or 28th of April, or May 12th. Dario Hrebak, the president of the HSLS, which is a junior partner in the coalition government, says that any of the afore mentioned dates will suffice: “For the citizens and for us in the governing majority, the best date would be May 12th. However, due certain circumstances, they could be held at the end of April. Realistically, for us it's all the same. I think that the last Sunday in April or the second Sunday in May are the most realistic dates.”

For its part both the center-left and center-right opposition have welcomed the announced dissolution of parliament. SDP MP Mirela Ahmetović: “We've been calling for the dissolution of parliament for a long time now. Our request for the dissolution was entered into parliamentary procedure in mid-December of 2023. So, we more than agree with this. In fact this is late in coming.”

“We have plenty of time to prepare, because we've developed a serious network of organizations throughout the entire country. So, we'll be present in every village and every street, and it's completely irrelevant to us whether the elections are held at the end of April or in early May,” added Homeland Movement MP Davor Dretar.

MOST MP Nikola Grmoja however, feels that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is in a rush to hold the elections: “Most likely because of the corruption investigation involving Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, because he wants to avoid her getting arrested right before the elections. That and the Josipa Rimac case. So, that's most likely the plan.”

Meanwhile, President Milanović was asked today for the exact date of the elections: “I will inform the public of my decision in the shortest possible time after the parliament is dissolved.”

Milanović concluded that he would not hold consultations about the date of the elections with anyone, noting that the HDZ refuses to communicate with him, so there's no point in discussing it with anyone else either.

With parliament set to be dissolved next week, and parliamentary elections just around the corner, the president of the State Election Commission, Slaven Hojski, told Croatian Radio today that the commission is ready to conduct the elections, regardless of which date the election is scheduled for: “It's important to note that the deadline for holding the election does not begin with the dissolution of parliament, but rather with the adoption of a decision by President Milanović. Only the Constitution refers to a final deadline, which is sixty days after the dissolution of parliament, and that would be the 12th of May.”

Hojski also commented on the possibility that two election campaigns, one for Croatian Parliament and the other for the European Parliament, could overlap, resulting in possible election campaign infractions such as failing to observe the moratorium on campaigning on the day of and the day before the elections: “Yes, this is an eternal problem, especially in the context of the serious fines prescribed for the elections for European Parliament that do not exist for the elections for Croatian Parliament, regardless of the fact that both election laws have a pre-election moratorium on campaigning. It's quite possible that they will overlap, and that during the moratorium for the elections for Croatian Parliament the campaign for the elections for European Parliament will be in full swing. However, let's wait for the President's final decision, and then we'll see how the commission will position itself on this matter. But it definitely won't be easy.”

Hojski concluded by calling on all citizens to exercise their democratic right and to vote at both elections.

Source: HRT