The formation of the new parliament with the anti-HDZ majority is now our "absolute priority", said the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Pedja Grbin on Monday.

“At the moment, our absolute priority is to form the parliament as soon as possible in order to control the work of the government and prevent the outgoing government from passing decrees,” Grbin told the press after submitting the party’s list of candidates for the European Parliament.

With the formation of the Parliament, we can do what everyone talked about during the election campaign and what the SDP continues to support – cancelling the decision on the appointment of Ivan Turudic as State Attorney-General and the amendments to the Criminal Code, he added.

“I think we have a historic opportunity to change Croatia for the better. After the formation of the parliament, the constitution gives us time to sit down, talk and see if we can find a way to form the government,” Grbin said, pointing out that last week’s parliamentary elections showed that two-thirds of people want change.

He called on the parties that were elected to parliament to make it clear whether they will honour what they said in the run-up to the election and bring about change. However, he refused to say explicitly which parties they have discussed this initiative with so far. He added that the statements made by the Mozemo party showed that they would support this proposal.

“Our offer is on the table,” Grbin said, emphasising that all parties except the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) were invited to join.

Referring to HDZ leader Andrej Plenkovic as outgoing prime minister, Grbin said that according to some media, Plenkovic would leave Croatia for a post in the European Commission.

When asked whether he would resign from the party presidency, Grbin replied that this was not the case and added that the SDP would soon hold an election to decide on the party leader.