The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) regrets the fact that its mayoral candidates did not manage to win the runoff race in Split and Vukovar, but this strongest opposition party at the state level is satisfied with its candidates' performance in races for county prefects, HDZ senior officials said in the party's headquarters in Zagreb after the State Election Commission (DIP) released preliminary results from the second round of the local elections on Sunday.
"We can now say that we have defended almost all counties, cities and municipalities where we have been in power (in the last four years), which I deem to be good. As far as Split and Vukovar are concerned, we have been defeated there, but we were not in power there in the last term either," HDZ official Gordan Jandrokovic said.
In Split, Social Democrat (SDP) candidate Ivo Baldasar, who has an edge of only a few hundred votes, seems to have scored a tight victory over HDZ candidate Vjekoslav Ivanisevic. Baldasar and Ivanisevic defeated the outgoing mayor Zeljko Kerum in the first round of the vote on 19 May.
In Vukovar, the current mayor Zeljko Sabo of the SDP defeated HDZ candidate Ivan Penava.
However, Jandrokovic recalled that the HDZ was the victor in several medium-size towns such as Zapresic, Krapina, Pozega, Trogir and Prelog.
