Zagreb: 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 Anadolu Agency, Tomasevic expressed his commitment to continue working for the city, stating, "We will continue to fight relentlessly for Zagreb." 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 witnessed a historic result with independent candidate Iva Rincic elected as the city's first female mayor, securing 65% of the vote. Rincic described her victory as "a big step forward for Rijeka."
In 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 by ousting independent incumbent Filip Zoricic.
HDZ also recorded key victories in several other cities, including Sibenik, Dubrovnik, Zadar, and Karlovac. At the regional level, HDZ won 12 county prefect positions, notably in Brodsko-Posavska, Dubrovnik-Neretva, and Lika-Senj.
One of the closest contests saw HDZ's Andjelko Stricak narrowly edge out SDP's Bruno Ister by 96 votes in Varazdin County. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who leads the HDZ, hailed the election results as "a convincing victory" and evidence of the public's trust in his party.