ZAGREB, Jan 5, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Croatia elects a new president Sunday in an
uncertain vote where the conservative incumbent — trying to unite a
fractured right wing — faces a very serious challenge from a former leftist
prime minister.
Some 3.8 million people are eligible to vote in a poll that is being held
just days after Croatia took over European Union’s helm for a six-month
period that will be dominated by the issues of Brexit and the bloc’s
enlargement.
At the same time, the EU’s newest member is struggling with an emigration
exodus, corruption and a lacklustre economy at home.
Centre-right incumbent, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, is campaigning on a
“real Croatia” ticket, while her rival Zoran Milanovic, a former Social
Democratic premier, promises a “normal” liberal democracy of equal citizens.
The outcome of the vote for the largely ceremonial post is uncertain, with
the latest survey by Ipsos agency giving Milanovic a three-percentage-point
lead over Grabar-Kitarovic.
The latter, backed by the ruling HDZ party, will have to lure back
hardliners who voted for a nationalist folk singer in the election’s first
round in December.
Dominating in cities, Milanovic led the first round with around a third of
the vote, thanks in part to that split among the right-wingers.
Analysts said the first-round results showed an increase in support for
hardliners, a trend seen in other European countries such as Poland or
Hungary.
– ‘Croatia that unifies’ –
If Grabar-Kitarovic fails to win the presidency, it would deal a heavy
blow to the HDZ, whose moderate Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic faces
parliamentary elections later this year.
“I am a Croatia that unifies,” Grabar-Kitarovic, 51, said during a TV
election debate with her rival.
Unity, patriotism and references to the 1990s independence war that
remains an emotive issue, were the key points her re-election bid.
“We should come together as in 1990”, before the country declared
independence from Yugoslavia, Croatia’s first female president told her
supporters in Zagreb.
Meanwhile, Milanovic insisted that the “wars are over” and Croatia should
now fight for its place in Europe.
“There is no ‘real Croatia’ … rather a Croatian republic for all, equal
citizens,” the 53-year-old told a campaign rally in his native Zagreb. –
Accelerated exodus –
Presenting herself as the “woman of the people” with humble farming roots,
Grabar-Kitarovic is well known for stunts such as singing in public which her
critics deride as embarrassing.
She has also come under fire for downplaying the crimes committed by
Croatia’s World War II pro-Nazi regime.
Meanwhile, Milanovic is trying to make a political comeback and throw off
a reputation as arrogant and elitist.
Premier from 2011 until 2016, he was welcomed at the time as a bright,
young politician clean of the corruption tainting the rival HDZ.
But the excitement waned after his government failed to push through much-
needed reforms.
The ruling HDZ hopes to keep Grabar-Kitarovic in office during the
country’s EU presidency where four main issues are likely to dominate — the
bloc’s relationship with the UK after Brexit; the membership bids of Western
Balkan states; climate change; and the bloc’s budget framework for the next
decade.
Croatia joined the EU in 2013, but its economy, strongly relying on
tourism on its Adriatic coast, remains one of the bloc’s weakest.
EU’s open borders also accelerated the emigration exodus for better pay in
wealthier member states.
“Our youngsters are leaving, that is the biggest problem” while
politicians are only “insulting each other”, Stjepan Golub, a 70-year-old man
from Zagreb, told AFP.
The two rival candidates, both former diplomats, argued mainly over
internal political issues and old grievances from the past.
Polling stations open at 0600 GMT and close 12 hours later, with the first
results expected around 1900 GMT.