(ANSAmed) - ZAGREB, DECEMBER 2 - In a climate torn between
fears for the economic future and major satisfaction at the
completion of negotiations for entry into the European Union,
due for July 2013, Croatia heads to the polls on Sunday for a
general election that opinion polls suggest to be a foregone
conclusion, with a resounding victory anticipated for Zoran
Milanovic and the centre-left.
The four-party centre-left coalition known as Kukuriku - taken from the name of the restaurant in which it was formed two years ago, but which also symbolises the crow of the cockerel announcing a new dawn - leads the way in all opinion polls with 39% of voter preferences, a result that would be enough to guarantee a stable and secure majority with which to govern for the next four years. If the figures are confirmed at the polls, the future government will be led by 45-year old Zoran Milanovic, the leader of the foremost left-wing group, the Social Democrat Party (SDP), which was formed in 1990 by reformed communists. Together with three other minor partners (liberals, the pensioners' party and Istrian regionalists), the social democrats are promising to consolidate public finances and revive the stagnant economy with a series of major investments in infrastructure and energy, for the moment without introducing new taxes, but with the help of further loans from abroad. "At this time of economic uncertainty, it is difficult to make truly concrete promises," Milanovic said today, "but I am sure that we will lead the country in a more honest and a more efficient way".
At any rate, the left's significant lead over the outgoing government led by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is due in no small part to the series of legal scandals, accusations and trials for corruption and embezzlement involving former ministers, senior economic officials and public company chiefs. These include Ivo Sanader, the former Prime Minister (2004-2009) and HDZ leader, who is currently in temporary detention as he awaits trial for creating underground funds for himself and his party. Although it was Jadranka Kosor, the current Prime Minister and for years Sanader's deputy, who launched the wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, centre-right electors have been deeply disappointed with their leadership and few believe that Sanader alone was involved in the misappropriation of funds.
Kosor's last hurrah is likely to be the signature of the formal EU accession treaty on December 9 in Brussels, which will end a 7-year process of talks carried out under her stewardship.
Croatia is now on Europe's doorstep, but the EU is in crisis, and the efforts carried out to bring the country in to the union no longer seems to have the effect on citizens that HDZ was hoping. Even pre-election rhetoric suffused with hints of nationalism was not enough to see the party bounce back. Polls suggest that Kosor can expect no more than 20% of the vote, the worst ever result for the party that first achieved independence during the war against Serbia (1991-1995) and, later, entry into Europe.
With public debt has exceeded 60% of GDP, foreign investments are at their lowest level in 10 years (just over half a billion euros in 2011), unemployment at 17%, production at zero and a welfare system surviving only thanks to tourism income that remains significant, the 4.5 million Croatians voting on Sunday are sure to underline the economy as the future government0s greatest challenge. (ANSAmed).
The four-party centre-left coalition known as Kukuriku - taken from the name of the restaurant in which it was formed two years ago, but which also symbolises the crow of the cockerel announcing a new dawn - leads the way in all opinion polls with 39% of voter preferences, a result that would be enough to guarantee a stable and secure majority with which to govern for the next four years. If the figures are confirmed at the polls, the future government will be led by 45-year old Zoran Milanovic, the leader of the foremost left-wing group, the Social Democrat Party (SDP), which was formed in 1990 by reformed communists. Together with three other minor partners (liberals, the pensioners' party and Istrian regionalists), the social democrats are promising to consolidate public finances and revive the stagnant economy with a series of major investments in infrastructure and energy, for the moment without introducing new taxes, but with the help of further loans from abroad. "At this time of economic uncertainty, it is difficult to make truly concrete promises," Milanovic said today, "but I am sure that we will lead the country in a more honest and a more efficient way".
At any rate, the left's significant lead over the outgoing government led by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is due in no small part to the series of legal scandals, accusations and trials for corruption and embezzlement involving former ministers, senior economic officials and public company chiefs. These include Ivo Sanader, the former Prime Minister (2004-2009) and HDZ leader, who is currently in temporary detention as he awaits trial for creating underground funds for himself and his party. Although it was Jadranka Kosor, the current Prime Minister and for years Sanader's deputy, who launched the wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, centre-right electors have been deeply disappointed with their leadership and few believe that Sanader alone was involved in the misappropriation of funds.
Kosor's last hurrah is likely to be the signature of the formal EU accession treaty on December 9 in Brussels, which will end a 7-year process of talks carried out under her stewardship.
Croatia is now on Europe's doorstep, but the EU is in crisis, and the efforts carried out to bring the country in to the union no longer seems to have the effect on citizens that HDZ was hoping. Even pre-election rhetoric suffused with hints of nationalism was not enough to see the party bounce back. Polls suggest that Kosor can expect no more than 20% of the vote, the worst ever result for the party that first achieved independence during the war against Serbia (1991-1995) and, later, entry into Europe.
With public debt has exceeded 60% of GDP, foreign investments are at their lowest level in 10 years (just over half a billion euros in 2011), unemployment at 17%, production at zero and a welfare system surviving only thanks to tourism income that remains significant, the 4.5 million Croatians voting on Sunday are sure to underline the economy as the future government0s greatest challenge. (ANSAmed).
