In an interview with the N1 television channel on Tuesday, President Zoran Milanovic spoke about the upcoming parliamentary election, the question of whether he will resign from the presidency at the last moment, the Constitutional Court's warning and other topics.

He said that he would give the mandate to form the next government to whoever presents him with 76 signatures of MPs, and not to the relative winner of the parliamentary election on 17 April or to himself, and that he would act in accordance with the Constitution.

When asked how long he would wait until the participants in the election have collected most of the signatures of the elected MPs, Milanovic said that he would “wait to the maximum” and that the process would be carried out in accordance with the constitution after the election.

“Far be it from me to threaten to call an election after 37 days, like (his predecessor) Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. That is an attack on the constitution. She did this in consultation with the HDZ party and several constitutional law experts.”

Milanovic added: “Unlike my predecessor, I will not be influenced by various people in the HDZ party” and form a government in secret and threaten new election.

“I have made the decision to step out of my comfort zone”

“I will not even give the mandate to the relative winner of the election, i.e., the one who does not bring 76 (signatures),” he said, adding, “Believe me… I will be fair.”

If the Constitutional Court declares the decision by which he called the parliamentary election invalid, Milanovic said he would call new election.

“They can cancel the election results. I said the other day that they could start arresting women and children. And then the Goebbelses from the HDZ party came up with the idea that I would start arresting them. We are dealing with people here who are prepared to do anything.”

Milanovic said that if he becomes prime minister after 17 April, Ivan Turudic would be replaced as State Attorney-General.

“He will go, that’s clear. It will not be someone I have chosen. I have not chosen anyone yet. The most important thing is who it cannot be. The appropriation of Croatia must be stopped,” he said when asked who could become the next State Attorney-General.

Milanovic said he had decided to run in the election because of Turudic’s appointment, although he had already told N1 six weeks ago that his candidacy was not an option and that he “had neither a party nor a list”.

“When I saw what really happened with the disgrace of Turudic’s appointment as State Attorney-General, I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone, although I could have calmly waited for the new year and the presidential election. But I had no choice, it’s a calling.”

“I have proof that Turudic’s car was shot at a month ago”

When Turudic reported to the police a few days ago that his car had been shot at, Milanovic said that the case was arranged to give him protection.

“I have proof that it happened a month ago. I have the results of the police in Virovitica. I am the state president and I get some data independently from the HDZ. You did not realise for a month that two revolver bullets entered your car? Tell that to someone else.”

Milanovic reiterated that he would not resign as president.

After the election, he would form a majority as a kind of “protective wall against the plague that has afflicted Croatia in the last seven and a half years,” he said.

“I have defended the institutions throughout my time in office. All empirical indicators show that the citizens have responded well to this.”

Speaking about the first steps of the new parliamentary majority he would lead, he mentioned pensions, saying they had fallen if you look at the average pension in relation to the average salary. “The country is experiencing a decline. We will do everything we can to bring pensions up to 50 per cent of the average salary.”

The Third Republic

As for the Third Republic, which he mentioned several times, Milanovic described it as a new solution for the Constitutional Court, which will put it to sleep in its current form by neutralising everything it is not allowed to do. A big fight for the right of a small Croatian man to rent out his property. “What our man rents out, it will be protected. For all these outsiders who build mastodons here, there will be rules like in Austria. We will also prevent concreting,” he said.

“The Third Republic is a thorough analysis and investigation of the network of all state budget parasites, the media that receive money from the state budget. How much money do Plenkovic, and his ilk give to the various media, to the consultants working for his HDZ party? As soon as he came to power, he began to corrupt them.

Everything will be free at universities and colleges. And doctorates. Patients with a supplementary insurance card must receive the same treatment in private hospitals and polyclinics as paying customers.

Regarding the migrants, he said that they were not people risking death or danger, but “wanderers who want to get to Munich or Vienna”,” so he called for greater police involvement and “a humane approach, but strict.”

Milanovic criticised Andrej Plenkovic’s cabinet and said that it “unquestioningly obeys every decision of the European Commission.”

As for foreign policy priorities, he mentioned the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their right to elect their representative in the country’s presidency.

“Plenkovic puts us in a situation where we are lackeys, where we do not have our own point of view. I do not like those who are always against something, but in some situations, you have to say that something is not possible.”