Leftist Eyes Victory in Capital in Croatia’s Local Elections

A young left-wing mayoral candidate, Tomislav Tomasevic, leader of the "Mozemo!" [We can!] party, came first by a big margin in Sunday's local elections in the capital, Zagreb.

While his win was expected, the scale of Tomasevic's lead was a surprise. He took 45.15 per cent of votes cast, almost half, putting him in prime position to win the run-off againt his right-wing rival, Miroslav Skoro, leader of the Homeland Movement, who trailed behind with 12.16 per cent of the vote.

By law, if no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, the winner and second-placed candidate take part in a second round two weeks after.

Skoro has promised a fight against a left wing "that wants to conquer the city of Zagreb".

"It's neither green nor left, it's extremely left and it's going to be stopped in the second round, so help me God," the musician-turned-politician said.

But few put their faith in that pledge. Political analyst Zarko Puhovski told BIRN: "He has almost no chance of winning."

"We will win in two weeks with our heads held high and we will be able to look everyone in the eye," Tomasevic said.

If, as expected, he does win, he will replace Zagreb's long-running mayor Milan Bandic, who died of a heart attack in February, campaigning for a seventh term.

Mozemo! also won 23 seats in the City Assembly, one short of a majority, but can hope to govern there with the support of the Social Democrats, SDP.

Tomasevic, a former city councillor, is already an MP in the Croatian parliament, where his party is part of the opposition green/left coalition. He is well known for his activism and criticism of Zagreb's urban decay under Bandic's rule.

Croatia's voters on Sunday cast votes for 576 local and...