In Croatia held second round of local elections

Ballots from all polling stations in Zagreb have been counted and according to DIP’s information, Tomislav Tomasevic of the Mozemo!-led green-left coalition won 65.25 percent of the vote.

Tomislav Tomasevic wins in Zagreb

In the first round of the local elections on May 16, Tomasevic won 147,631 votes, and in Sunday’s runoff he won 199,630 votes.

His opponent from the right-wing DP party, singer-turned-politician Miroslav Skoro, won 34.75 percent of the vote or 106,300 votes in the mayoral runoff.

The turnout in Zagreb was 45.07 percent, which is two percentage points less than in the first round, and 2 percent of ballots were invalid.

Ivica Puljak wins in Split

The mayoral candidate of the liberal Centre party, physicist Ivica Puljak, won Sunday’s runoff election in the Croatian second city of Split, with 56.75 percent of the vote. In the first round, he won 17,500 votes and in the second 35,565.

His rival, Vice Mihanovic of the ruling centre-right HDZ party, won 43.25 percent of the vote or 27,106 votes.

The turnout in Split was 43.53 percent, which is less than in the first round, when the turnout was 43.97 percent, and 2.90 percent of ballots were invalid.

Marko Filipovic winner in Rijeka

Ballots from all polling stations in the port city of Rijeka have been counted as well, and the results show that Social Democrat Marko Filipovic won 54.48 percent of the vote. In the first round on May 16, he won 11,970 votes, and in the second 18,902.

His rival, independent candidate Davor Stimac, won 45.52 percent of the vote.

The turnout in Rijeka was 34.16 percent, 3 pp less than in the first election round, and 3.37 percent of ballots were invalid.

Ivan Radic wins in Osijek

The winnerin Osijek is Ivan Radic of the HDZ, with 59.68 percent of the votes won, while his rival Berislav Mlinarevic, an independent candidate supported by the DP party and the conservative populist Most party, won 35.52 percent of the vote.

Radic won 15,526 votes in the runoff as against 13,655 votes in the first round.

The turnout in Osijek was 29.13 percent, as much as 10 pp less than in the first round, and 4.80 percent of ballots were invalid.

The turnout at the national level was 37.96 percent for elections for county heads and the mayor of Zagreb, and 43.86 percent for other mayors.

Zagreb's new mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said in his first address as mayor-elect on Sunday evening that residents of Zagreb had put trust in his ability to run the city, calling on them to participate in decision-making on the city's development.

“Thank you for your trust, hope, your belief that true change is possible, thank you for a clear mandate for a real change. Thank you for believing in me, in yourselves, and in all of us,” Tomasevic said in the address at his campaign headquarters at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

“We will do our best to justify your trust,” he said, thanking also voters who did not vote for him and stressing that, in time, he hoped to gain their approval as well with a better model of governance and better quality of life for all.

Tomasevic said that he had been fighting all his life for the city and its interests and against harmful agreements and decisions by those who, he said, had captured the city, systematically neglecting it and using it as their own cash machine.

He recalled that his campaign for Zagreb started back in 1998, when he was 16 and fought against the illegal dumping of hazardous waste in gravel pits by the River Sava.

“Twenty-three years later, here we are, together with the best team with whom I have been fighting for years for a more just, more solidary and more tolerant society. Those are the people with whom I share a vision for Zagreb as a greener, more just and more transparent city,” said Tomasevic.

“I will proudly lead this city to a better future, and I will be the mayor of all its residents, both those who voted for me and those who did not,” he said.

“I believe that all residents of Zagreb, regardless of how they voted and whether they voted at all, want better living conditions in their neighbourhoods, more available child care, better health care, more retirement and nursing homes, better public transportation, better cycle lanes and more green areas, and that they want this city to finally make it possible for young people to have a future here,” he said.

“Our mission will not last only until the next election, we look much farther into the future because the city’s long-term wellbeing is the most important to us. Zagreb, you have given me your trust, and I ask you to participate, together with us, in making decisions on the city’s development,” said Tomasevic.

He also called for patience, adding that a lot of work lay ahead and that the changes the city was about to undergo were neither quick nor simple.

Leader of the right-wing DP party, singer-turned-politician Miroslav Skoro, on Sunday congratulated the Green-Left mayoral candidate Tomislav Tomasevic on his victory of the mayoral runoff, saying that Tomasevic would have a tough time as mayor.

Addressing the press in his campaign headquarters, Skoro said that his motto was that one had to fight even when it was obvious the struggle would be lost, describing himself and his team as Christian Democrats and conservatives ready for further struggles.

He thanked the 105,000 voters who cast their ballots for him in the runoff election and said that their trust was the reason for him to continue fighting “against some anomalies we have noticed”, promising that he and his team would continue “exposing the activities of certain civil society organisations and fight against corruption and clientelism.”

Skoro said that after both rounds of the local polls, the DP party won 400 seats in local councils across Croatia.

Ivan Penava, supported by the DP party, remained the mayor of the eastern town of Vukovar, and added that DP candidates won mayoral elections in Slatina and Zupanja in east Croatia.

HIC.hr
photo: N1