Continue with Plenkovic – or will the left-wing populist Milanovic come to power? The Croatian election will decide on a new parliament. The voter turnout has so far been higher than it has been recently.
Update from April 17th, 3:15 p.m.:
The election in Croatia seems to be going largely smoothly. There are apparently disruptions at some polling stations: the television station
N1 Hrvatska
reported , citing police information, that public order was disrupted at two polling stations. In addition, the deputy head of the electoral commission, Josip Salapić, told the broadcaster that in “some smaller cities” citizens had tried unsuccessfully to stop others from voting. The police stopped this. So far, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has always given the Croatian elections a good report and there is no reason to doubt it.
Croatia elections: Unusually high voter turnout at an unusual date
Update from April 17th, 2:30 p.m.:
The electoral commission reported around Wednesday afternoon that a good quarter of those eligible to vote in the Croatian election had already voted before 11:30 a.m. In the last parliamentary election in 2020, voter turnout was only just under 19 percent.
At lunchtime,
public television
HRT
also showed images of long queues in front of polling stations outside the capital Zagreb. It remains to be seen whether the higher voter turnout will continue throughout the day, as elections in Croatia normally take place on Sundays.
Who will be head of government after the Croatia election? Milanovic vs. Plenkovic
Update from April 17th, 1:57 p.m
.: President Milanovic's - constitutionally questionable - entry into the election campaign had reduced the gap between the HDZ and SDP in the polls. The coalition options for the two major parties will depend on the election outcome. The right-wing national Most (Brücke), the right-wing extremist homeland movement and the parties of the ethnic minorities are likely to be available as potential coalition partners and majority creators.
Croatia election: Plenkovic casts his vote in Zagreb
Update from April 17th, 12:07 p.m
.: Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has cast his vote in Croatia. Plenkovic has been at the head of the HDZ and the Croatian government since 2016. When he took office, he was hailed as the savior of a party rocked by conflicts of interest. The career diplomat stands out from his predecessors with his more approachable demeanor and his less nationalistic rhetoric.
“Croatian Trump”
vs. head of government with
corruption problem
Update from April 17th, 11:10 a.m
.: The landmark parliamentary election in Croatia is underway. The election campaign was overshadowed by the bitter hostility between President Zoran Milanovic (SDP) and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic (HDZ).
Milanovic had approached the extreme right in Croatia with populist rhetoric. His crude insults to political opponents as “gangsters,” “stable flies,” and “parasites” earned him the nickname “Croatian Trump.”
Plenkovic has ruled Croatia since 2016, and the HDZ has been in power for 26 of the 33 years since Croatia's independence. The incumbent head of government continued the expansion of corrupt networks in the state and administration begun by his predecessors. In the almost eight years of his leadership, he lost 30 ministers because of corruption scandals. At the same time, Plenkovic positions himself as pro-Western and pro-European.
Croatia elects a new parliament
First report
: Zagreb – The people of Croatia will elect a new parliament this Wednesday. The 3.7 million eligible voters in the EU country use their votes to decide whether they want to continue to be governed by the conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic or his left-wing populist predecessor Zoran Milanovic.
Croatian
President
Milanovic
is Russia-friendly
Both politicians are bitter political opponents. Milanovic has also made pro-Russian statements several times and used populist rhetoric to draw closer to the extreme right in Croatia. On this issue, however, Plenkovic follows the pro-Ukrainian line of the European People's Party (EPP), to which his HDZ party belongs as well as the German Union parties.
The ruling HDZ party has largely dominated Croatian politics since Zagreb broke away from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Parliamentary election
in
Croatia
: unusual election date
It is the start of a series of elections in the Balkan country. The European elections will follow in June and then the presidential election, which is scheduled to take place by September 22nd. Elections in Croatia usually take place on Sundays. The left-liberal opposition parties in particular welcomed the choice of weekday as the election date, as they expected it to result in higher voter turnout.
Polls before the Croatian election: duel between Plenkovic and Milanovic
The duel between Plenkovic and Milanovic should be exciting. Plenkovic's HDZ is ahead in the polls with around 30 percent, meaning the prime minister could secure a third term in office. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has around 20 percent in the polls, but with the help of allies it could impose Milanovic as head of government.
Polling stations open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Meaningful partial results are expected late in the evening.
Croatia: Corruption allegations against Prime Minister Plenkovic
According to observers, Plenkovic, who has only had a narrow majority in parliament, wants to forestall the threat of further loss of popularity with the early election date. He recently came under criticism for his media and judicial policies.
The opposition accuses Plenkovic of widespread corruption, high unemployment, the highest inflation rate in the EU and persistent illegal immigration. A few weeks ago, thousands took part in an anti-government protest in the capital demanding immediate elections.
(frs with AFP and dpa)