The Prime Minister and leader of the ruling HDZ party, Andrej Plenkovic, said on Tuesday that no one can aspire to the office of prime minister without running and participating in the parliamentary election. He again called out President Zoran Milanovic, without mentioning him, but labelled him a constitutional offender.

“What we want is that we never get into a situation where someone aspires to the office of prime minister and holds it without an election. I personally reject such a democratic deformation on principle,” Plenkovic told the press after a meeting of the HDZ party leadership.

The Oreskovic case

Anyone who wants to become Croatian prime minister must engage in the political game, must expose themselves, must engage in an exchange of opinions, in arguments and must not violate all democratic principles, our constitutional order, said Plenkovic.

When a journalist pointed out that in mid-2016, the HDZ, in cooperation with the Most party, brought a person to the head of the government who had not participated in the election – the short-lived Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic – Plenkovic recalled that this combination failed precisely because he had not been a candidate in the election.

The journalists were also interested in the comment on Milanovic’s statement that he would not allow Rafale flights over Zagreb in his capacity as prime minister. Plenkovic said: “Well, we do not buy them to keep them in the hangar” and noted, among other things, that Milanovic would not be president for much longer.

“I do not think anyone wants to see such a constitution-breaker in this position again, where he has done nothing, just as he did nothing when he was prime minister,” he said, adding that Milanovic’s record “is not miserable, but non-existent.”

Reinforcing the air force

He emphasised that Croatia had strengthened its (defence) capabilities by purchasing the Rafale fighter jets.

“This kind of capability, for which our government is responsible… raises Croatia to a level where there is no other country that has a stronger air force in this area, between Germany and Greece,” he said.

Journalists repeatedly asked Plenkovic why the HDZ had not denounced those who had violated the constitution during the election campaign.

Alluding to the blatant campaign manoeuvre of President Zoran Milanovic, who was banned from participating in the election campaign if he did not resign, Plenkovic replied that this was a matter for the State Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court. Let those who are responsible for it according to the law deal with it, he said.