“It's over”: President Milanovic not allowed to become prime minister in Croatia

“done”
President Milanovic was not allowed to become Prime Minister in Croatia

April 19, 2024, 8:53 pm

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Croatian President Milanovic spontaneously announced his intention to run for Prime Minister in the parliamentary elections. Now, after already being given a warning, the Constitutional Court is finally putting a stop to his plans.

Two days after parliamentary elections in Croatia, the country's Supreme Court banned incumbent President Zoran Milanovic from becoming prime minister. Milanović was “warned in good time that she cannot participate in the election campaign unless she resigns as president,” said Miroslav Separović, president of the Constitutional Court.

Milanovic, a left-wing populist, announced in March in the middle of the election campaign that he would run for the post of head of government for the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP). In doing so, he further emboldened the election campaign after Prime Minister Andrej Blenkovic's conservative HDZ party was clearly ahead in the polls.

The Constitutional Court then intervened and declared that Milanović must first resign as president in order to run for the post of head of government and take a seat in parliament. However, Milanovic ignored this, remaining in office while continuing his election campaign. Now the president of the Constitutional Court said: “It is over now. He cannot be appointed head of government.”

His tenure is set to end in January

Prime Minister Blenkovic's HDZ won Wednesday's election, but not with an outright majority: 61 of the 151 seats in the Croatian parliament, while Milanovic's SDP-led center-left coalition won 42. The right-wing Nationalist Homeland Movement could become the kingmaker with 14 seats and a third-place finish. According to their own statements, HDZ and SDP are trying to get their own majority from the election.

Blenkovic's tenure included the introduction of the euro in Croatia and his country's entry into the Schengen area. HDZ has largely dominated Croatian politics since Zagreb broke away from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. The SDP was the main opposition party at this time. Milanović was the Prime Minister of Croatia from 2011 to 2016. His presidential term ends in January.

Former Prime Minister Jatranka Khosore has now said that the court itself is violating the constitution by its decisions. Left-wing politician Dalija Oresković described Croatia's Supreme Court as “one of many hijacked institutions”.