(17 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zagreb, Croatia – 17 April 2024
1. People registering and taking ballots at polling station at an elementary school
2. Woman casting ballot
3. Various of people casting ballots
4. Close of ballot box with Croatian coat of arms, reading “Election district XII”
5. Various of people casting ballots
6. Various of woman reading poster with list of candidates and entering polling station
7. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Ljerka Majcen, pensioner from Zagreb:
"I don’t think anything will change. I think the campaigning wasn’t very good, there was too much insult-hurling, too much bickering, from all sides. And especially for us pensioners, it won’t turn out good. Things will remain the way they are.”
8. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Bozidar Zupan, pensioner from Zagreb:
“My expectation is that the government would change. Because we have had enough of them by now, after enduring those currently in power for eight years now. I think it’s time for people to come out and vote, and opt for something else. Which maybe might be a better option, at least we hope it might be.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Croatians went to the polls on Wednesday in a harshly contested parliamentary election, following a short campaign marked by heated exchanges between the country’s two top officials.
The ballot pits the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic against an alliance of centrist and left-wing parties informally led by populist President Zoran Milanovic and his Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Plenkovic, in power since 2016, is seeking his third term at the helm of the government, while Milanovic, former longtime leader of SDP and prime minister from 2011 to 2016, wants to return to government before his presidential four-year term expires by the end of this year.
The tensions between the two top officials have created a political crisis in the Balkan country of 3.9 million, which is a member of the European Union and NATO.
Analysts say that a lot is at stake in the race for Croatia’s 151-seat parliament, not just in the country itself, but also for Europe as it grapples with the instability from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
If HDZ stays in power, the country would maintain relative political stability and continue on the pro-Western course in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
A success for SDP could put it on track for victory in the European Parliament elections in June. It would shake the conservative HDZ’s long dominance of politics and potentially open space for stronger pro-Russian influence in the country, akin to Hungary and Slovakia.
HDZ campaigned on a platform that focused on reminding voters of recent economic growth, buoyed by the country’s membership in the EU’s passport-free travel area and the eurozone – both of which it joined in January 2023.
SDP emphasized the fight against corruption, as Plenkovic’s HDZ has been marred by a long string of corruption scandals and investigations against top party officials over the past several years.
The president holds a largely ceremonial role in Croatia, while the prime minister exerts most of the political power.
Milanovic – who as president sets the date for elections – unusually announced last month that he would run in the election while still holding office. The nation’s top court ruled that the move was unconstitutional, and barred him from campaigning, and also banned SDP from advertising Milanovic as their candidate.
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