The Secretary General of the Domovinski pokret (DP) party, Josip Dabro, told the Croatian news agency Hina on Thursday that the party's MP, Josip Jurcevic, would not support Andrej Plenkovic as prime minister-designate because his HDZ party had not given the Domovinski pokret the Ministry of Culture.

“Tomorrow we will submit 12 signatures. Mr Jurcevic will not give his signature. This is his position and we respect it in a democratic tone and spirit,” Dabro said after a meeting of the party’s presidency, which lasted late into the night.

The Presidency met after the party reached an agreement with the HDZ on the formation of a new parliamentary majority and the next government three weeks after the parliamentary elections.

Three ministries for the DP

As the junior coalition partner in the new government, the Domovinski pokret will be responsible for three ministries – agriculture, economy and a new Ministry of Demography and Immigration. The party will also provide two deputy prime ministers and a deputy speaker of parliament.

In the election on 17 April, the right-wing populist Domovinski pokret party and its partners won 14 seats, but on election night Mislav Kolakusic from the Law and Justice party left the party, leaving it with just 13 seats in the 151-seat parliament.

The HDZ party won 61 seats with its partners, which means that after Jurcevic’s decision not to support him, it is three votes short of a majority to form the third Plenkovic-led government in a row. As announced, these votes will come from the MPs of the national minority, but without the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS).

There are eight seats in parliament for MPs representing ethnic minorities elected in special constituency no. 12. Three seats are reserved for representatives of the Serb ethnic group and five seats for other ethnic minorities.