Marija Selak-Raspudic, who won a parliamentary seat on the ballot paper of the Most party in the election on 17 April, declared on Wednesday that she and the party have split and that she will run as an independent MP in the eleventh convocation of the Croatian parliament.

She confirmed that her husband Nino Raspudic, who was a member of the Most party, will also enter the new parliament as an independent MP.

The reason for our departure from the Most party is a difference of opinion about the election campaign in the run-up to the Croatian parliamentary election,” said Selak-Raspudic, who rejected speculation that the reason for her departure from the Most party was the composition of the party’s list of candidates for the parliamentary election.

At a press conference in Zagreb, she said that she had been offered the opportunity to run as a top candidate for the European Parliament. However, she had decided against this after the Most official Marin Miletic had expressed his wish to be on the list.

In view of the fact that Miletic publicly distanced himself from me (in the run-up to the parliamentary election), I do not consider it credible or appropriate for me to head the joint list (for the EP), said Selak-Raspudic.

She went on to say that her husband Nino Raspudic had refused to run for the EP on Most’s list because he did not want to deceive his supporters by taking on the role of an MEP in Brussels.

Petrov: Such disagreements should not be the reason for the departure

At his press conference, the leader of the Most party, Bozo Petrov, said that he regretted the incident and hoped to continue co-operation in Parliament.

“I chose all of them, I wanted them all to be on the list. I believe that the list is stronger this way and has a greater chance of success,” he said about the lists for the EP.

“I wanted them all to be there, but they could not accept that part. I am sorry that we will not all be on the list for the European Parliament. I do not think the party has split, two colleagues made this decision and I hope we will work together in the Parliament,” Petrov said.

“We had no conditions, I chose Most, I wanted them all. I also wanted Selak-Raspudic, who was offered the first place. I do not think I took sides, I also wanted Marija Selak-Raspudic and Nino Raspudic and Marin Miletic and Nikola Grmoja – absolutely all of them, but some of them could not accept it. The choice was offered to all of them. That was unacceptable for her. I chose Most and I chose all of them,” he said.

He added that this was unacceptable to them. He believes that such disagreements should not be the reason for their departure.

“Certain mistakes happen, I am the first to make a mistake, and Miletic was not wrong about Most’s position. What was a mistake was that he distanced himself from his colleague under such pressure and apologised for it,” he said.

The conflict between Selak-Raspudic and Miletic arose recently when Selak-Raspudic answered “yes” to the question of whether abortion is a woman’s right in the N1 pre-election TV debate. Miletic responded by saying that she had “misspoken” and that Most was “pro-life” and that everyone in the party had the same stance on the issue.