(ANSA-AFP) - ZAGREB, 17 APR - Croatia began voting in a
parliamentary election on Wednesday after a bitter campaign
between a prime minister seeking a new term and a populist
president who wants to be head-of-government despite a court
warning. The showdown between Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, a
conservative, and President Zoran Milanovic, a left-wing
populist, comes as the European Union nation wrestles with
corruption, a labour shortage, the highest inflation rate in the
eurozone and illegal migration. For months, Plenkovic and his
ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) seemed poised for an easy
victory that would secure his third term as premier. But in
mid-March, Milanovic made the shock announcement that he would
challenge Plenkovic and become candidate prime minister for the
Social Democrats (SDP). Milanovic was prime minister shortly
before Plenkovic and his role as president is largely
ceremonial. (ANSA-AFP).
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