Croatia's ruling party emerges victorious in local elections

ISTANBUL

Croatia’s ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) achieved major victories in the second round of local elections, local media reported Monday.

In the capital, Zagreb, Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic was reelected with 57.5% of the vote, defeating independent challenger Marija Selak Raspudic, according to HRT News.

“We will continue to fight relentlessly for Zagreb,” Tomasevic told his supporters.

In Split, the second-largest city, HDZ’s Tomislav Suta unseated incumbent Ivica Puljak, winning 53% of the vote and promising to be “the mayor for all citizens of Split.”

The northern port city of Rijeka saw a historic result, with independent candidate Iva Rincic elected as the city’s first female mayor with a commanding 65% of the vote.

She called it "a big step forward for Rijeka."

In the eastern city of Vukovar, Marijan Pavlicek of the conservative Christian Croatian Sovereignists narrowly defeated HDZ-backed Domagoj Bilic.

Meanwhile, in the small seafront city of Pula, former Social Democratic Party leader Pedja Grbin made a political comeback, ousting independent incumbent Filip Zoricic.

HDZ also scored key wins in several other cities, including Sibenik, Dubrovnik, Zadar and Karlovac.

At the regional level, HDZ won 12 county prefect positions, including in Brodsko-Posavska, Dubrovnik-Neretva and Lika-Senj.

In one of the tightest races, HDZ’s Andjelko Stricak narrowly edged out SDP’s Bruno Ister by 96 votes in Varazdin County.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who leads the HDZ, called the results “a convincing victory” and proof of the public’s trust in his party.