Covic said he would also try to get back the people who left the party.
Speaking of the HDZ BiH's relationship with Croatia's HDZ, Covic said he had often met with HDZ leader Ivo Sanader and was confident the two parties' leaderships would meet in the next two weeks.
Covic said his election would not be an obstacle to relations with the European People's Party (EPP), whose leader Wilfried Martens expressed reservations about Covic's nomination in a letter to former HDZ BiH leader Barisa Colak.
Covic said Martens's letter was "translated clumsily". He added it would be inappropriate for the EPP to meddle in the election of the HDZ BiH leader, and that a number of EPP officials had personally supported him.
"There are no legal obstacles to my being in politics," Covic said in response to numerous objections to his nomination voiced ahead of Saturday's HDZ BiH assembly due to the fact that he has been indicted for corruption.
Covic said he received 15 letters of support from international officials active in Bosnia-Herzegovina prior to the assembly.
The other candidate for the HDZ BiH leader post, Bozo Ljubic, said late on Saturday he thought Covic's election was irregular and announced he would lodge a complaint.
Ljubic said the whole vote was controlled by Covic and his associates. He added Covic's election and everything that occurred during the assembly in Mostar was a "bad message to the Croatian people and Europe and could have very negative consequences for the Croatian people".