The HDZ will have "enough hands" to form a parliamentary majority. It is talking to those who are serious and responsible, not to Most, Mozemo or the Social Democratic Party, which are corrupt because they "want to hijack independent institutions", HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday.

Responding to questions from the press about the ongoing negotiations on the formation of a new majority and the collection of signatures for the appointment of the Prime Minister-designate, the Prime Minister said that the HDZ would probably have won six more seats in parliament if the election had been held on a Sunday instead of Wednesday, 17 April.

“The negotiations would have been over, and since the election took place before the arrival of the Rafales, we have the decision of the Croatian people that sets the context,” Plenkovic said after a ceremony marking the arrival of fighter jets from France.

“The election was held in almost irregular conditions”

“We have the rhetoric of the corrupt SDP, the corrupt Most, the corrupt Mozemo spewing fire, insults, negativity and barbarity against the HDZ in the post-election period,” he said, adding that he would continue to call them corrupt because they “very rudely and unjustifiably” accuse the HDZ of corruption.

He said he would not discuss with them about forming a parliamentary majority, but with those who are serious and responsible and who are here to show how Croatia should function and to show political stability.

The election was held in almost irregular conditions because “the Constitution was constantly violated by (President) Zoran Milanovic, the corrupt SDP, their corrupt partners and those of Most,” Plenkovic said, wondering “what the failed SDP leaders are waiting for” because “they should have resigned long ago.”

The point of the election was that “the obviously corrupt left wing, because if it was not corrupt, it would not fight so hard” wanted to win in order to conquer the institutions, he said, adding that he was primarily referring to “the idea of overriding the decision of the democratic Croatian parliament to appoint the (next) attorney general after an extremely transparent procedure.”

“The institutions were independent when we were in office”

“They want to usurp the prosecution authorities… Their only interest in the election was to conquer the institutions that were independent when we were in office, because if they were not independent, there would have been no high-profile cases in the fight against corruption.”

There would not have been a single case if the State-Attorney’s office, the anti-corruption office USKOK and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office had been hijacked, as they say, he added.

Plenkovic went on to say that Milanovic “did not deserve to be president” because he sided with the SDP in the election. “He’s out, there’s no doubt about that.”

Now we will thoroughly explain to the Croatian people, for years if necessary, who is corrupt and who is not, he added.

The next government will be “formed within the constitutional deadlines “by the winners and certainly not by the losers” of the election, he said.

The HDZ is the relative winner of the parliamentary elections, an SDP-led coalition came second, the Domovinski pokret third, Most fourth and Mozemo fifth.

Asked about speculation that Zlatko Hasanbegovic could be the next culture minister, Plenkovic said that the HDZ and the Domovinski pokre had not discussed ministries in their talks about a new majority.