If there are no tectonic shifts in the next two weeks after the first round of the presidential election, Zoran Milanovic is well on his way to a new term in office. The non-party HDZ candidate, Dragan Primorac, received two and a half times fewer votes than the incumbent president. The day after the first round of election, the HDZ praesidium met. After the meeting, party president Andrej Plenkovic spoke to reporters.

Plenkovic briefly touched on the topics discussed in the HDZ party praesidium and addressed current political issues.

“The second round begins today, the election campaign continues. We will fully support Dragan Primorac and we expect him to have much more media presence in the next two weeks. We believe that there will be a debate and that the public will now fully recognise Primorac’s potential. Of course, HDZ is not satisfied with the results, as they are slightly lower than the polls suggested, while Zoran Milanovic’s result is higher.”

“There was a dispersion of votes”

“Milanovic received great support in all counties, cities and municipalities. We received support in 61 local self-government units, which is modest, especially in a year in which we convincingly won the parliamentary and European elections. There was a dispersion of votes. Nobody supported him except Ivana Kekin, who allied herself with Milanovic before the election – this is clear to everyone. The continuity of left and right-wing politics remains. The left will forgive Milanovic and tolerate any resistance to the right, while continuing to celebrate him as their own. If I lead the HDZ, win elections and attract centrist voters, the extreme right will retaliate with attacks like the one on the Banski dvori,” Plenkovic added.

The Prime Minister also warned voters not to support the policies of Zoran Milanovic.

“Milanovic is heading into a second term and is copying Franjo Tudjman’s slogan without even outlining two points of his programme. He is underestimating the voters and plagiarising. I found it amusing to hear comments that this is the result of his work – I would like to see what work it was,” he said.

People believe that what Milanovic says is true and that he is protecting them from the HDZ. I wish good luck to those who believe this

He also commented on Milanovic’s statement that he was ready to reach out to the government: “This kind of pretense and political demagoguery stems from a dirty game where what is allowed for him is not allowed for anyone else. If someone from the HDZ had done what he did as president in April, the media would have been all over them and the commentators would have chewed them up and spat them out – but not here. The media analysts woke up this morning to write about Milanovic’s triumph. I didn’t experience comparable treatment when we won the parliamentary election.”

“A distorted reality”

“Primorac was attacked by both the left and the extreme right from the very beginning of his candidacy – harshly and systematically. This is the usual treatment that HDZ candidates receive. Dragan told me: ‘Listen, I didn’t know it was like this. The conditions under which you are winning are a true miracle,’ Plenkovic continued.

He explained that everyone on the right was prepared to steal votes from Primorac.

“Nobody else wanted to run, and nobody else would probably have been better. Dragan wanted to do it; he was a minister, he ran for office, he is professionally and scientifically accomplished, as well as in entrepreneurship. He has international contacts. If he’s not a candidate, I don’t know who is,” said Plenkovic, adding that he would have been happier with a better result.

The media analysts woke up this morning to write about Milanovic’s triumph. I didn’t experience comparable treatment when we won the parliamentary election

When asked whether the defeat was difficult to cope with, he replied that it was a distorted reality. “I never wanted to be president and I did not run this campaign – it was run solely by our candidate Dragan Primorac. If you ask me if this was hard for me after a third term as prime minister, then let me tell you that we are convinced that he is better for Croatia than Milanovic,” he said.

“Milanovic has no programme, plagiarises slogans, has no achievements, aand people vote for him anyway”

“Just as Miroslav Skoro was planted as a candidate to take votes away from Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, these four or five candidates planted to take votes away from Primorac. There is a peculiar notion among right-wing voters that HDZ is not right-wing enough. Let’s peel this banana. In what areas is the HDZ not right-wing enough? In its attitude towards the church, the police, migration…?” Plenkovic continued.

He explained that there are no complaints within the party about not being right-wing enough. “Milanovic is a fake right-winger. He attended Zeljko Komsic’s rallies and we have been living with this problem for four terms now,” he said, repeating that Milanovic has no programme, plagiarises slogans, has no achievements and people vote for him anyway.

When asked what Milanovic’s secret is, he replied that there is none. “People believe that what he says is true and that he is protecting them from the HDZ. I wish good luck to those who believe this,” he concluded.