Negotiations to form pre-election coalitions are underway

With the parliamentary elections in Croatia set to be held in April or May, opposition parties are working to form coalition agreements with like-minded counterparts. On Tuesday ten center-left parties gathered around the SDP, formed a pre-election coalition.

Over the next ten days or so the ten parties in question will discuss what their key strategies are in order to secure a positive result at the elections. SDP leader Peđa Grbin, was asked today whether or not he expects there to be any problems in drafting the election slates: “There are always problems in drafting election slates, but it is entirely clear what our goal is. I believe that all of us will be able to set aside our egos and interests, whether party or personal, and agree on what will be able to function, and ultimately what will be best for Croatian citizens.”

The coalition includes parties on the political left that are far from sharing political opinions. One key example of this are the Fokus Party, which falls under the banner of classical and economic liberalism, and the far left Worker's Front, which still harbors sympathies for the former communist regime. Worker's Front MP Katarina Peović: “We don't have to hide from the fact that we have gathered around a bare minimum in terms of common ground, and this isn't the first time.”

One party on the political left that has not signed on to the coalition, is Možemo!, which will run alone at the elections in all but the fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth electoral districts - where they will run with the SDP. However, the party of Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević has not ruled out the possibility of a post-election coalition in forming a new government. However, this then leaves the question of who would have the right to appoint the prime minister. Senior Možemo! official Sandra Benčić: “The party that garners the most votes will appoint the prime minister-designate, that's clear. It remains to be seen which party that will be.”

Another party from the left that is not part of the coalition, is the Social Democrats, which is comprised of former members of the SDP that broke ranks with Grbin in 2021. However, party president Davorko Vidović has welcomed this gathering of left leaning parties.

On the center-right, the Homeland Movement, led by Ivan Penava, is fine tuning their campaign program. According to Penava his party's primary message to voters is that the Homeland Movement will not tolerate unregulated and uncontrolled illegal migration. Additionally, if it wins the election it would rescind the Istanbul Convention. He further noted that while they are entirely in favour of punishing domestic violence, they will not bend the knee to gender ideology. He also made it clear today what his party's post-election plans are: “I absolutely have no intention of tying myself or the Homeland Movement to the name Andrej Plenković, however, insomuch as we would de-ratify the Istanbul Convention and stop illegal migration, everyone with the exception of Možemo! and the SDSS, are acceptable to us.”

However, two of the bigger center-right opposition parties, the Homeland Movement and MOST, have no plans of forming a pre-election coalition. MOST MP Nikola Grmoja explains why: “If you want to cooperate with someone, then you don't attack them. These are empty stories. It's clear that they don't want to cooperate with us. They have their own calculus, which is to draw voters away from us under the guise that they want unity and we do not.”

For its part, the HDZ remains outwardly confident of its success. Deputy party president and the incumbent Deputy Prime Minister and Veterans' Affairs Minister Tomo Medved has no doubts about the strength of his party. As to rumors that party president and prime minister, Andrej Plenković, will move on to a job in one of Europe's many institutions after the elections, Medved had this to say: “I am convinced that the president of the HDZ and the incumbent and I believe future prime minister, Andrej Plenković, will win a third mandate. We continue to be ready to accept this challenge, with the annotation, that we are always a step ahead.”

The HDZ has already made public who will top their election slates in all eleven electoral units, with Medved leading the slate in the seventh electoral district, which covers the entirety of the Lika-Senj and Karlovac counties, as well as the central, southern and western part of Sisak-Moslavina county, the northern part of Zadar county, and the northern and eastern part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county.

Source: HRT