SDP & HDZ reject speculation of a Milanović slate at the 2028 elections

In spite of the fact that the next parliamentary elections in Croatia are not scheduled to take place until 2028, speculation from Nacional, a weekly political commentary publication, has elicited commentary from the largest opposition party, the SDP, and the senior member of the coalition government, the HDZ.

According to Nacional, President Zoran Milanović is planning to run an independent list in the 2028 parliamentary election. However, on Wednesday senior SDP official Mišel Jakšić denied that the president had any such plans: “Regardless of the fact that currently he is not a member of any political party, it is definite that in the public perception there is a thread connecting him to the SDP. But as of today, there has been absolutely no discussion within the SDP regarding including Zoran Milanović in the parliamentary elections.”

In Croatian politics the president-elect traditional withdraws his party membership during his mandate as a symbolic gesture showing impartiality. As such, Milanović, a longtime member of the SDP and former party president, withdrew his party membership after being elected Croatian President.

The SDP's prospective junior partner in the election, Možemo, also rejected the rumors as unfounded. Možemo coordinator Sandra Benčić: “One would assume that the president should say something about this. Obviously, he never said anything about running, nor did the leader of the SDP. So, I would put this down to media and political speculation.”

Meanwhile, senior HDZ official and Deputy Prime Minister Davor Božinović said that any attempt by the president to run in the election would amount to little more than a combination of desperation and frustration: “There's no reason for anything to concern us. I see this as a blend of desperation and frustration because individually they cannot remove the HDZ.”

Source: HRT