Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenkovic presented the candidates for the party leadership on Thursday and said that they will prepare for the next electoral challenges after the party elections, in which the members of the party's Praesidium and National Committee will be elected.

“After these elections, we will tackle the issue of the presidential elections, decide on a candidate and see which concept is the best. We know that two thirds of Croats want a change of president, which I think is normal, because the incumbent president has shown that he has violated the Constitution, and the president should not do that, because he should be the president of all citizens,” said Plenkovic.

He added that he would consult the other partner parties because they want their presidential candidate to have the broadest support. Plenkovic did not want to name a possible candidate, but said they had several people “in mind”

“The HDZ has decided to continue with the winning team”

Plenkovic also presented the party programme “Together for all challenges” for the party’s internal elections on Saturday and emphasised that Croatia is better off today than it was eight years ago thanks to its leadership.

At a press conference, Plenkovic emphasised that after various challenges, crises, but also successes, the HDZ has decided to continue with the winning team, which, in addition to him, includes deputy party leaders Tomo Medved, Oleg Butkovic, Ivan Anusic, Branko Bacic and Zdravka Busic as the only candidates for the party leadership.

“Citizens have confirmed this in the high turnout in the parliamentary election, in an atmosphere of hysteria and the creation of a false crisis and catastrophe in Croatia, created primarily by the constitution-breaker and his cohorts, who have created an atmosphere as if we have nothing to eat in Croatia and that the situation has never been so bad and that the HDZ should be removed from power,” Plenkovic said, adding that this fabrication of a crisis has failed.