Election Analysts: Puljak is under pressure, the HDZ wants a triumph, and Rijeka will be SDP’s collapse

On Sunday, the second round of local elections in 13 counties, 47 cities and 61 municipalities, and the greatest attention is focused on the cities where the outcome is the most unheard of – especially in Split. On the show Open University professors Smiljana Leinert Novosel, Zarko Puhovski and Pero Maldini spoke about possible outcomes. According to Professor Puhovski, although it is a local election, they are increasingly gaining the characteristics of a national political calculation:

– These are actually party elections guided in local environments. It is less important if the road is repaired, if there is electricity – the left and the right are more important. The HDZ talks about the vertical of the Government and that means something. If the HDZ receives Split – and especially Sinj and Vukovar – there will be complete winners. Without Split, they remain number one, but they do not triumph – said Puhovski.

Talking about the race for Split, he emphasizes that the outcome could also decide the shade:

– The weather, the crowds on the roads or something could be judged. One candidate represents a civic, decent Split – but in a rude way. Another represents the one that is not perceived as decent – but more decent. The two do not really correspond with their own voters, but they are great to fight – Puhovski added.

Professor Leinert Novosel pointed out that the current Mayor of Split, Ivica Puljak, did not show political maturity in communication ahead of the election:

– He didn’t pay attention to whom and how he communicates. It is better to be on good terms with everyone, for future collaborations and coalitions. The situation is now more complicated, but in Split, an anti-HDZ block is formed in Split. He is not only present in Split, but extends from north to south, including eastern Slavonia. It is a tacit arrangement of parties trying to prevent the HDZ or their potential partners to come to power – said Leinert Novosel.

He also emphasizes that the campaign in many environments has reached a new level of negativity:

– The campaign was never dirtier. It was important to paste the label, disqualify the anti -candidate. The affairs were opened, a negative campaign was led. Now that the elections pass, it will be crucial who can work with – said Leinert Novosel.

Professor Pero Maldini specifically referred to the situation in Rijeka, where Iva Rincic enters the second round with a strong result, while SDP candidate Marko Filipovic only gets the visible support of his party:

– Late Marko arrives at Kosovo. Internal quarrels are already the principles of Filipovic, and the voices of his former pronouns are likely to leave Rincic. It becomes a collateral winner of the SDP crisis. Support now comes too late, and the reasons for the conflict in the SDP are personal nature – the struggle for positions, the supervisory boards, the worn structure without cohesion – said Maldini.

He also commented on Filipovic’s attempts to ideologically discredit his candidate:

– He tried to discredit her through her ideological commitment, but she made it clear that he belonged to the same left center to which he gravitated and most of his voters. Part of the HDZ voters could also be affected by her, and there is an awareness that it could easily form a majority in the City Council. It all goes to her favor, ”Maldini said.