Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Saturday that President Zoran Milanovic had not contacted him with regard to the appointment of the new director of the Security-Intelligence Agency (SOA).

Asked to comment on President Zoran Milanovic’s statement that he had tried to contact him but that Plenković was not responding, Plenković said that Milanović had last contacted him “150 years ago.”

“My and the government’s position is that we stand by the proposal that Daniel Markic, who was appointed by (Milanović) and me, should continue serving in his post,” Plenkovic said at a party event in Šibenik.

“We want the matter to be resolved within the legal deadline, as far as we are concerned, the candidate is known. We have stated our position, there is no need for further explanations, it’s up to him to state his position. We were very fair with regard to the appointment of the Armed Forces Chief of Staff. The matter is clear as far as we are concerned, we want stability, we do not want key institutions to be without their heads,” said Plenković.

Asked about expectations with regard to Constituency No. 9, he said that he would not speculate about the election result but that he expected his party to score a convincing victory across the country.

Constituency No. 9 covers Šibenik-Knin County, the central and southern parts of Zadar County, and the northwestern part of Split-Dalmatia County.

“We have very strong candidates and huge achievements and have ambitions for another term in office,” he said.

As for the possible date of elections, Plenković said that he did not have any preferences. “Whenever they are scheduled, it’s fine with us,” he said.