Former HNS president, who resigned during dramatic days when the party was deciding whether to enter into a coalition with HDZ, may be coming back.
Who will assume the leadership of HNS in intraparty elections is an important question. It is expected that the special party conference to elect the new party boss will be held in mid-December, while in October and November new leaderships at the town and county levels will be chosen, reports Večernji List on August 24, 2017.
The party is now led by acting president Predrag Štromar, who has the strongest party base and is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Construction Minister, which makes him a potential candidate for the HNS leader. However, he has not yet announced his candidacy. Earlier, the main favourite for the presidency was Prefect of Međimurje County Matija Posavec, who later rejected the idea and even resigned as the president of the party’s Main Committee. Still, it is not entirely sure that he will not change his mind.
However, the most intriguing rumour is the return of Ivan Vrdoljak, who resigned as party president in early June, after a dramatic session of the presidency which decided that HNS would not go into the government and the coalition with HDZ. His resignation at the time was seen as a protest against the presidency’s decision since he was the chief advocate for the coalition. However, just 24 hours later, there was an even bigger and more shocking turn of events. The party’s Main Committee overruled the presidency and HNS decided to become part of the ruling majority after all.
The real question, which is being asked more and more often, is whether Vrdoljak has resigned just so he could come back. “It is not impossible, and more people are talking about it, but I think his return would be the last nail in the party’s coffin,” said a source from the party.
It is not a secret that the former HNS president has never actually left HNS. Sources from the party admit that he has been active all the time; he comes to the party headquarters and participates in decision making and meetings with HDZ. The same sources say that he often advises Deputy Prime Minister Predrag Štromar.
Štromar himself admits that his former boss has occasionally helped him with his advice and experience as a former member of the government and the party's president. Asked whether Vrdoljak could return to the party leadership again, Štromar replied that every member has the right to run for all party positions.
“There is still plenty of time until December. I do not reject anyone as a candidate, including Vrdoljak, and I would like for us to have several candidates for the party president this time since competition is always good,” said a source from HNS.
Political analyst Žarko Puhovski says the HNS leaders have already demonstrated that everything is possible, so the return of Vrdoljak would not really be surprising. “That would be a major disgrace, but it would not be a bigger disgrace than the fact that HNS left the opposition and entered the government,” Puhovski says.
Translated from Večernji List.
