Leaders of the green-left Mozemo! party said on Tuesday that the party's Council had decided they would run in next year's parliamentary elections independently, because a survey had shown that a coalition with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) would produce no significant synergy.

They did however announc a post-election coalition with centre-left parties and the SDP as the main partner.

“The Council of the Mozemo! party unanimously decided last night that we would run in the 2024 elections on our own,” the party’s coordinator Sandra Bencic told a press conference, noting that they would run in the elections with their strategic partners from previous elections, including New Left, Zagreb Is Ours and Dubrovnik-based Srdj Is A City.

Bencic pointed out that this decision did not rule out the possibility of forming coalitions with other progressive parties and initiatives in some constituencies.

Our decision to run in the elections independently confirms a possible post-election coalition with centre-left parties, she said, citing the SDP as one of the main potential partners.

She added that this would mobilise the largest number of voters and enable them to vote for left-wing parties, as well as ensure that Mozemo! won the largest possible number of votes and remove the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) from power through post-election coalitions.

“The survey commissioned in May has clearly shown that there is no positive synergy, actually it showed a negative synergy in a coalition with the SDP and in some broader coalitions,” Bencic said. “Left-wing voters are likely to turn out in larger numbers if parties run on their own, but with a clear intention to form the government together and topple the HDZ.”

Zagreb Mayor: We can attract more voters with separate campaigns

The party’s other coordinator, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic, said that the IPSOS survey had shown that an SDP-Mozemo! coalition would attract fewer votes overall than the two parties individually.

“We have separate electorates, and we consider it essential to bring out new voters to the polls. That’s why the position of the majority of members, with some dissenting opinions, was that we should run independently,” Tomasevic said. “We have notified the SDP of our decision and we will continue our cooperation in Parliament and where we are in power,” he added.

Tomasevic said that they left open the possibility of running in coalitions, including with the SDP, in some constituencies, but that it was too early to say which.

He said it was more fair and more transparent to enter into coalitions after elections. “Since we are running independently, we will have our own candidate for prime minister.”

Both Tomasevic and Bencic said they were ready for the office of prime minister, adding that candidates for other positions would be decided by the party at preliminary elections.

Bencic pointed out that a coalition with the conservative populist Most party was out of the question and that they saw the SDP as a post-election partner. She said it was not enough just to remove the HDZ from power, but to form a stable government and “forever bury the present model of government.”