Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that any date for the parliamentary election is acceptable for his HDZ party, including 17 April, and that the HDZ will ask the citizens for another vote of confidence after two difficult but very successful terms in office.

“The HDZ and our partners are ready for the democratic test before the Croatian people, given all our successes. It is a bit unusual that this is happening in the middle of the week, but it is all in accordance with the law. We are ready for the election and are looking forward to the campaign,” said Plenkovic in Osijek about President Zoran Milanovic’s decision that the parliamentary election will take place on Wednesday 17 April.

The last two terms of government were “very successful for Croatian citizens and economic growth,” he added.

Asked by the press whether the fact that 17 April will be a non-working day will have any effect, Plenkovic said that this question should be put to Milanovic. When asked whether this will lead to a higher voter turnout, he said that he would rather not “speculate on the intentions” and that it was the all the same for the HDZ.

“We have our achievements, our reputation, our track record. We have a programme, we have a vision of Croatia for the next four years.”

When asked about possible organisational problems given the fact that many polling stations are located in schools, Plenković said that this question should be put to Milanovic.

“Positive and constructive” campaign

When asked whether the fact that Wednesday will be a day off from work will hurt the economy, he said that this question should also be put to the President. “I am confident that employers will remember well that he has given them another day off work.”

The HDZ’s campaign will be positive and constructive, “for the good of the Croatian people, the Croatian state and the Croatian economy,” Plenkovic said. “We will be those who are not exclusive, but inclusive, whose political messages are not based on hatred and defamation, but on solving the concrete problems of the Croatian people.”

If someone strongly attacks us politically, we will defend ourselves, very decisively, with arguments, if necessary with a little tougher rhetoric, he added.

On the possibility of a coalition with the Domovinski pokret party after the election, Plenkovic said that DP leader Ivan Penava had said that he would co-operate with the Social Democratic Party. He reiterated that the DP had helped Milanovic to be elected president and that a vote for the DP was a vote for the left and against the values of the right and centre-right.