ZAGREB, May 20, 2020 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) secretary-general Gordan Jandrokovic said on Tuesday that a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) "is not an option that interests us" and that the SDP did not have a man who was a match for HDZ leader and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
"We believe we will achieve a relative victory and find partners to form the government and avoid connecting with the SDP," the speaker of the parliament which dissolved on Monday said about the upcoming election.
Speaking on the public broadcaster, Jandrokovic said he expected President Zoran Milanovic to be the president of all citizens. Commenting on Milanovic's role in the election campaign, he said, "In a certain way, he is choosing a side and discretely trying to help the SDP."
Speaking of SDP leader Davor Bernardic, Jandrokovic said: "he is not up to the task of (being prime minister) either as a man or as a politician."
Asked about a national salvation government in cases of a second COVID-19 wave, he said that for now, he did not see the need for that. "Who would be our partners in this grand coalition? Those of yesterday or today, who have shown how irresponsibly they approach serious matters?"
Jandrokovic said the opposition, which demanded a parliamentary election in recent months, was now scared because Plenkovic and the HDZ had done an excellent job in dealing with the corona crisis and that this was why it had begun to defame the members of the crisis management team "in an ugly and inappropriate manner."
