Croatians cast their votes Sunday
to elect a new president, with the outspoken incumbent Zoran
Milanovic appearing set to come out on top according to opinion
polls. His likely main rival among the eight contenders for the
largely ceremonial post is Dragan Primorac, backed by the
conservative HDZ party that currently governs the country. The
election comes as the European Union and NATO member country of
3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, widespread
corruption and a labour shortage. Milanovic, backed by the
left-wing Social Democrats party, is supported by 37 percent of
the electorate while Primorac has 20 percent, according to an
opinion poll released Friday. But as none of the candidates are
expected to garner more than 50 percent of the vote to win
outright, the new head of state is likely to be chosen in a
runoff in two weeks. "There will be two races," Milanovic told
reporters after casting his ballot in downtown Zagreb, referring
to the probable runoff. He urged people to take part in the
vote, saying "it's worth it". During the campaign the two main
rivals often traded insults, with Milanovic ridiculing Primorac
as boring and as "fake as a 13-euro note". - Balance of power -
By 1030 GMT, turnout was 14 percent, the electoral commission
said, down from around 16 percent at the same time during the
2019 presidential election. Croatia's president commands the
country's armed forces and has a say in foreign policy. But
despite limited powers, many believe the office is key for the
political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the
HDZ since independence in 1991. "All the eggs should not be in
one basket," Nenad Horvat, a salesman in his 40s, told AFP. He
sees Milanovic, a former leftist prime minister, as the "last
barrier that all levers of power fall into the hands of HDZ",
echoing the view of many. A former prime minister, 58-year-old
Milanovic has been one of Croatia's leading and most colourful
political figures for nearly two decades. Sharp-minded and
eloquent, he won the presidency for the Social Democrats (SDP)
in 2020 with pledges to advocate tolerance and liberalism. But
he used the office to attack political opponents and EU
officials, often with offensive and populist rhetoric.
Milanovic, who condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine,
has nonetheless criticised the West's military aid to Kyiv. That
prompted Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to label him a
pro-Russian who is "destroying Croatia's credibility in NATO and
the EU". Milanovic countered that he wanted to protect Croatia
from being "dragged into war". "As long as I'm president no
Croatian soldier will wage somebody else's wars," he said this
month. He regularly pans Plenkovic and his HDZ party over
systemic corruption, calling the premier a "serious threat to
Croatia's democracy". "I'm a guarantee of the control of the
octopus of corruption... headed by Andrej Plenkovic," he said
during the campaign. - President-PM feud - For many, the
election is a continuation of the longstanding feud between two
powerful politicians. "This is still about the conflict between
the prime minister and president," political analyst Zarko
Puhovski told AFP. "All the rest are just incidental topics."
Primorac, a 59-year-old physician and scientist returning to
politics after 15 years, campaigned as a "unifier" promoting
family values and patriotism. "Croatia needs unity, global
positioning and a peaceful life," he told reporters after
casting his ballot in Zagreb, adding that he would later attend
a mass. Primorac repeatedly accused Milanovic of "disgracing
Croatia", a claim that resonated with many voters. Barbara Sente
Ocvirk, 36, told AFP she was not "satisfied with the way our
current president is representing us in Croatia and abroad" and
believes his main rival would do better. Voting stations close
at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) when exit polls are expected. Official
results are due late Sunday.
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