CROATIA: Economic problems and corruption scandals dominate the campaign for Croatia's December 4 parliamentary election that the centre-left opposition looks likely to win

Record ID: 836856

  • Title: CROATIA: Economic problems and corruption scandals dominate the campaign for Croatia's December 4 parliamentary election that the centre-left opposition looks likely to win
  • Date: 3rd December 2011
  • Summary: ZAGREB, CROATIA (DECEMBER 1, 2011) (REUTERS) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **_ STREET IN ZAGREB WITH VARIOUS ELECTION BILLBOARDS TWO ELECTION BILLBOARDS SHOWING ZAGREB MAYOR MILAN BANDIC AND INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE LJUBO JURCIC ELECTION POSTER AT STREET CROSSING, SHOWING RIGHT-WING CANDIDATE RUZA TOMASIC PEOPLE IN STREET WITH CAMPAIGN BILLBOARD FOR OPPOSITION COALITION, READING: "Plan for Sunday: get out to vote!" CROATIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION (HDZ) ELECTION BILLBOARD SHOWING PRIME MINISTER JADRANKA KOSOR AND PARTY MEMBERS, READING: "HDZ - The best when times are toughest." ELECTION BILLBOARDS VARAZDIN, CROATIA (NOVEMBER 30, 2011) (REUTERS) OPPOSITION LEADER ZORAN MILANOVIC COMING ON STAGE AT "KUKURIKU COALITION" RALLY, SUPPORTERS APPLAUDING GROUP OF SUPPORTERS WITH RED BALLOON SHOWING THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SDP) LOGO
  • Embargoed: 18th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Croatia
  • City:
  • Country: Croatia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA931G6EZI3VNHKLPLA20CS04Y0
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A centre-left opposition bloc is on course to take power in Croatia on Sunday (December 4) but will face a tougher fight to revive the ex-Yugoslav republic's flagging economy before it joins the European Union in 2013. Voters are set to punish Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's conservative HDZ for a string of corruption scandals and rising unemployment.
    The four-party Kukuriku ('cock-a-doodle-doo') Alliance, led by the Social Democrats (SDP) of former diplomat Zoran Milanovic, is forecast to win more than 37 percent of the vote according to the latest opinion polls. The centre-right HDZ has 19 percent support, its worst standing since Croatia's first free election in 1990.
    Such a result would give the Alliance enough seats in parliament to put 45-year-old Milanovic in charge as Croatia -- a tourist hotspot on the Adriatic shaped like a boomerang -- faces its deepest economic downturn as an independent state.
    "Our government must be dynamic. It has to make decisions, that is what Ratko (Cacic) talked about. This government has been passive. For two and a half years they have been waiting and watching as the crisis unfolded before their eyes. As interest rates soared, as deficit soared. As Croatia, which has been living on debt for 20 years now, lives on debt more and more and more," Milanovic said at an Alliance rally in the northern Croatian town of Varazdin on Wednesday (November 30).
    If he became the new prime minister, his first task would be to avert a credit rating downgrade by introducing a lean state budget by the end of March. The Alliance plans a combination of austerity measures and steps to revive industry and attract foreign investment. It has not ruled out turning to the International Monetary Fund to cope with the fallout from the euro crisis.
    "Croatia is in a challenging situation for anyone who will be governing it in the next four years. Budget revenues are lower than before, Croatia is in a financial crisis. We are not doing any better -- not worse either --but not any better than our neighbours and we shall have to go on a diet. Not painful cuts, there will not be any amputations, but we will have to be on a diet," Milanovic told Reuters on Thursday (December 1).
    Croatia is due to join fellow ex-Yugoslav republic Slovenia in the EU in July 2013, more than two decades after it split from Yugoslavia in a 1991-95 war. The HDZ government won praise from the EU for pursuing an anti-graft campaign over the past two years that saw former party leader and prime minister Ivo Sanader in court. But the extent of government graft uncovered has hurt the party's standing, with a number of senior party officials arrested or questioned over alleged slush funds diverting profits from state firms or doctoring public tenders.
    "I voted in the last election, and I carry a small part of guilt because I circled (the names of) people who robbed this country, and are now mostly in prison," Ivica Petrinjic, an engineer, said on Thursday.
    "I hope (that the government would change). They should be replaced. There has been enough of all this," Nedeljko, a pensioner, said on Thursday.
    Croatia's economy boomed over the past decade on the back of foreign lending and services that largely replaced its socalist-era industry. Modern highways were carved through green countryside to the Adriatic coast and the property market thrived. But governments failed to curb lavish state spending, cut red tape or reform the labour market. Unemployment stood at 17.4 percent in October. The biggest national union, SSSH, estimates that at least 20,000 workers have lost their jobs since 2009, while another 15,000 are working without pay.
    "(The most important problem is) unemployment, which will certainly not be solved by this campaign, and I think that after the election all prices would go up and it would not be much better for us, little people," Melita, a Zagreb resident, said on Thursday.
    The ruling HDZ is attempting to woe voters by promising not to adopt new taxes and by firmly rejecting popular speculations that state-owned companies which manage natural resources might be privatized.
    "And we say in our program: we don't want the International Monetary Fund, we don't want the sale of HEP ( (the national power company) we don't want the sale of forests, of waters, we don't want the sale of our national treasure. We don't want mass layoffs in state administration, we don't want reduced pensions, we don't want reduced maternity pay and child benefits. We are clear on that," Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said at a party rally in the central Croatian town of Bjelovar on November 22.
    The ruling party's campaign is marked by an effort to distance itself from former Prime Minister Sanader and an emphasis on Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's accomplishments, which they say include the battle against corruption.
    "We are the only party which openly started the battle against corruption, and now, at this moment, we are carrying a heavy burden. We were hurt the most, but we have no regrets," Kosor told her supporters.
    Polling stations open at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday and close at 7 p.m., when exit polls will follow. An official, preliminary count is expected by midnight (2300 GMT).
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