Croatian President Ivo Josipovic on Wednesday gave the Kukuriku coalition's candidate for Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovic of the Social Democratic Party, the mandate to form the country's new government based on the results of the December 4 parliamentary election which was won by the coalition.
After receiving official election results from State Election Commission chair Branko Hrvatin on Tuesday evening, President Josipovic met in his office with Milanovic, who arrived in the company of the other three leaders of the Kukuriku coalition, Radimir Cacic of the Croatian People's Party, Ivan Jakovcic of the Istrian Democratic Party and Silvano Hrelja of the Croatian Pensioners' Party.
After he was officially given the mandate to form the government, Milanovic said that the government was faced with a huge task.
"We have to pull Croatia out of the crisis, and economic growth is the only way to achieve it," he said.
