Zoran Milanovic, leader of Croatia’s opposition Social Democrats and a former prime minister, said Monday he will step down after a poor result of his coalition in weekend’s snap national election.
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The 46-year-old former member of the European Parliament has repeatedly pledged to move the party away from populism and extremism to position it in the centre-right.
A coalition government, formed by Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its junior partner Most (Bridge of Independent Lists – Most nezavisnih lista) after the last election in November 2015, stepped down in June following a no-confidence vote after which an early election was called.
However, officials of the party were cautious and warned that the initial results may be unrepresentative of the total votes as the results would be skewed towards rural districts that are their stronghold.
At a time when Croatia facing chronic economic woes, rising tension with neighbouring Serbia and migration crisis, a snap parliamentary Electionon Sunday is unlikely to deliver a strong leadership for a country, a media report said.
Milanovic, who led the government for four years from 2011, said he will not take part in the party’s upcoming internal elections.
This means that that some of the smaller groups could play the role of kingmakers, as was the case with the pro-reform Most group in the previous government.
A man casts his ballot at a polling station during a parliamentary election in Zagreb, Croatia, on September 11, 2016. By midafternoon turnout was 37 percent according to the electoral commission, some nine points down on the same time in November polls.
The Social Democrats won 58 of parliament’s 151 seats, short of an outright majority. However, if either of the two major parties fails to form a government, another round of elections could also be a possible outcome of the vote.
At a meeting with veterans of the 1990s conflict, according to recordings leaked to the press, he labelled Serbians a “bunch of miserable people” and slammed their Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic over his ultranationalist wartime stance.
The nearly year of political deadlock has blocked reforms the former Yugoslav republic badly needs as it emerges from a six-year recession.
The economy, relying largely on tourism along the country’s Adriatic coast, remains one of the European Union’s weakest despite some recent positive indicators attributed to membership of the bloc.
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Most wants to change how political parties are financed, lower business taxes, and create an Adriatic economic zone – a proposal that would likely need extensive talks with Croatia’s European Union partners. However, despite an unemployment rate of more than 13 percent and six years of recession, Croatia’s central bank has forecast recovery and growth of 2.3 percent this year.
