One of the most prominent conservative HSS members opposes coalition between her party and SDP.
Member of the European Parliament and member of the presidency and the Main Committee of HSS Marijana Petir said on Tuesday that it was unacceptable for HSS to enter into a coalition with SDP because, among other things, the two parties advocate fundamentally different value systems, reports Večernji List on July 5, 2016.
“I think that with regards to issues which are important to the Croatian people we all have to talk and work together. But, when it comes to the coalition, as a member of HSS, which is part of the European People's Party, I believe our value system is very different from some parties that aspire to be in a coalition with us”, said Petir commenting on media reports about a possible coalition between HSS, SDP and other left-wing parties. She explained that “in national politics, in addition to harmonization of programme principles, we need to share the same value system”.
“We are a Christian-democratic party, a centrist party and we cannot be indifferent when someone tries to change laws and dissolve the values with which Croatian people are living, without respecting the will of the same people. SDP changed the Law on Referendum because they did not want to implement the decision of the people in a referendum”, said Petir. If we add to this, said Petir, “SDP policies towards the Croatian village, where they manipulated with tenders for rural development and gave agricultural land to tycoons, deliberately destroying family farms, then it is clear that for me this is unacceptable”.
Asked whether HSS should go independently to the polls or should join one of the coalitions, Petir said that HSS Main Committee would decide on the model. “I am sure that members would prefer for us to go to the polls alone. But, the real question is whether this is a realistic option given the short time left until the election and the fact that HSS has a relatively new leadership which has not yet managed to establish itself on the national political scene. Given these circumstances, the party bodies discussed the potential leadership role of HSS in the context of creating a separate coalition with other centre parties, so even that option is not completely ruled out”, said Petir.
She added that the HSS negotiating team was negotiating about potential coalitions and that she believed the Main Committee would receive all the information at its next meeting on 7 July.
