HDZ Loses in Cities, Wins Counties, in Election

Croatia's local elections on Sunday confirmed the strength of the governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, in the counties, but underlined its lack of strength in the major cities of Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek.

The HDZ won in 11 out of Croatia's 20 counties, while its traditional opponent, the opposition Social Democratic Party, SDP, managed to win in only five.

However, the HDZ scored badly in major cities, especially in Zagreb, where its list for the city assembly won only 11.95 per cent of the votes, compared to 14.72 per cent in the 2013 elections.

Drago Prgomet, the HDZ's candidate for mayor, won only 5.6 per cent of the votes, probably losing some votes to Bruna Esih, another right-wing candidate previously affiliated with the party, who won a surprising 10.98 per cent of the votes.

Prgomet took responsibility for his poor result but noted that some HDZ leaders had supported Esih, and not only the controversial former Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegovic, who was cast out of the party earlier this month for joining Esih's list for the Zagreb assembly.

As predicted by most polls, the incumbent as Zagreb Mayor, Milan Bandic, again polled most votes, 30.87 per cent, followed by the opposition-backed Anka Mrak-Taritas, with 24.48 per cent. How the voters for the third-placed candidate, the independent Sandra Svaljek, who won 19.14 per cent, then vote on June 4 will be crucial for the outcome of the second round.

In his speech, Bandic called "for a great coalition" in the city assembly - not specifying which parties should be part of it, however.

In the second biggest city, Split, the HDZ candidate, Andro Krstulovic Opara, won 26.1 per cent and will try to win in the second round against the local...