Homeland Movement meets with HDZ and SDP

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that he believed that his party, the Croatian Democratic Union - or the HDZ - would reach an agreement with the right-leaning Homeland Movement party in the coming days on the formation of a parliamentary majority and thus a new government.

The results of the election became official today, so, beginning tomorrow, President Zoran Milanović will have twenty days in which to call the first session of parliament. Seventy-six seats in the 151 seat house are required to form a parliamentary majority.

"There is a lot of speculation. The most important thing is that the voters have sent their message. The HDZ has once again won a relative majority and the trust of Croatian citizens to lead the government. We are now in talks on the formation of the new parliamentary majority, which will resume today. I believe that in the coming days we will agree on a new parliamentary majority and then on a government," said Plenković on Monday.

Both the left and the right are trying to sway the Homeland Movement and their fourteen seats in parliament over to their respective sides. And while ideologically, an HDZ and Homeland Movement pairing seems more likely, the latter held negotiations again this morning with the left-leaning Rivers of Justice coalition led by the SDP. And while they are on opposite sides of the spectrum, the foundation of that particular coalition would be based on the common goal of anti-corruption.

SDP President Peđa Grbin said after the meeting that freedom of the press - namely repealing the so-called Lex AP legislation - and the removal of newly-appointed Chief State Attorney Ivan Turudić were the absolute priorities and that everything else was a matter of compromise and negotiation.

When asked whether the 20-day deadline for the formation of a new cabinet would be sufficient, Plenković recalled that the HDZ had won 61 seats in 2016 and was later able to form a government.

"We had the same situation back in 2016 when we also had 61 seats. I believe we needed about a month and five days in order to gather 91 signatures from MPs in order to become prime minister. Last time I need maybe only two hours after the elections, but that's how it is. Negotiations are ongoing. This situation appears more like the one in 2016 rather than 2020, but this is nothing out of the ordinary," said Plenković.

Meanwhile, the prime minister once again criticised the opposition for resorting to "senseless rhetoric" against the HDZ, which he described as "a political disgrace for Croatia"