Government of Croatia

Trailing in opinion polls before a parliamentary election this year, Croatia's ruling party is locked in a fierce fight over who should lead it.

Former Prime Minister, Social Democrat Zoran Milanovic was elected President in a runoff election on January 5, beating the incumbent conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic with 52.7 percent to 47.3 percent of votes.
Constitutional Court President Miroslav Separovic said on that occasion that it was paramount for the court to stick to what he had sworn to do.

Centre-left former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic was sworn in as president of Croatia on Tuesday, six weeks after he defeated incumbent conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in a run-off election.

"There is no external pressure to encourage change; the [European] Commission, for example, has abolished the anti-corruption reports it once had."

Responsibility for the fight, Ivkovic Novokmet said, had fallen on institutions now firmly in the hands of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, in power since January 2016.

Citizens of Zagreb dissatisfied with the two-decade-long rule of their mayor, Milan Bandic, protested on Wednesday in front of the County Court during a hearing against him.

As Bandic walked into the court, they whistled and shouted: "He is guilty!" They also held up banners with messages such as, "Mafia go home". Some protesters sat in the courtroom.

Turning the Tables

The unexpected victory of Zoran Milanovic in the Presidential elections, the second round of which was concluded on January 5, has turned the tables on Croatian politics. The country is now braced for a period of strained cohabitation between President-elect Milanovic from the opposition SDP and the HDZ-led government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Playing the Identity Card

In 2020, Montenegrin voters will go to the polls to elect a new Parliament and government. Elections must be held by October. Yet they will be closely watched for a number of reasons other than their actual outcome.

A Croatian political expert said Sunday's presidential election victory by the centre-left candidate, Zoran Milanovic, was to some extent a protest vote against his rival's "hard-core nationalist campaign".

He defeated incumbent President Colinda Grabar Kitarovic in the second round of the presidential election by more than 105,000 votes.
After 99.85 percent of polling stations processed, the former prime minister won 52.70 percent or 1,031,204 votes, while Grabar Kitarovic won 47.30 percent and 925,764 votes, respectively.

Former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic won the presidential election in Croatia, according to official results based on counted ballots from almost all polling stations.

Milanovic receives 52.73% of the vote. 47,267 percent voted in favour of Milanovic, outpacing Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, Croatia's now former president.