ZAGREB, 18 April (Hina) – The Croatian Constitution is clear and the mandate to form the new government can be given only to the person who proves they have the support of 76 elected parliamentary deputies, President Zoran Milanović said on Thursday, noting that he would abide by the spirit and letter of the Constitution.

“The Croatian Constitution is clear: Only the person who proves that they enjoy the support of 76 elected parliamentary deputies can be given the mandate to form the new government. Talks on the formation of the new parliamentary majority are underway and anyone participating in them must bear in mind the will of the Croatian voters expressed in the elections. As in previous situations, in this situation too I will fully abide by the letter and spirit of the Croatian Constitution,” Milanović said in a Facebook post, his first public statement after the elections.

He thanked everyone who went to the polls. “By deciding that the elections were held on a Wednesday, 17 April, I wanted to encourage you to go to the polls in the largest possible numbers because I believed and believe that the decision on the future of our Homeland must be made by all of you,” Milanović wrote.

The high turnout (of more than 62%) confirms that Croatians love their country, believe in it and want change, he said.

“The parties that have strongly supported the fight against corruption, that do not want Croatia to be mired in corruption, crime and inequality before the law, have won two-thirds of your votes. Your votes oblige them. You have the right to expect and ask of them – as well as of all of us, elected officials – to keep their word. Without that, we stop being a democratic society and politics is reduced to trade-offs and only looking after one’s own interests,” Milanović said.