Two weeks before the local elections, the mayors of seven out of a total of 127 cities and 112 out of a total of 428 municipalities can already celebrate because they are the only candidates in their units, which means that the elections on May 18th are a pure formality for them, and most of them are from the HDZ.
Four years ago, the names of 72 municipal heads and mayors and the composition of 15 municipal or city councils were known in advance, and now the names of 119 mayors and mayors and the composition of 35 local councils are known.
All seven mayors are from the HDZ, and that party, along with the occasional coalition, already has about 70 mayors. HDZ members Marica Jančić, Dinko Bošnjak and Davor Lončar secured their ninth mandate each, led by Marija Gorica, Hrvaci and Poličnik. Bošnjak also had the support of the DP.
Seven HDZ mayors
The HDZ already knows the names of the mayors in Hrvatska Kostajnica, Slunj, Garešnica, Kraljevica, Kutjevo, Lipik and Skradin, these are Davor Bišćan, Mirjana Puškarić, Josip Bilandžija, Dalibor Čandrlić, Josip Budimir, Vinko Kasana and Antonio Brajković.
The party has already secured the most municipal mayors, 15, in Osijek-Baranja County, namely in the municipalities of Antunovac, Donja Motičina, Ernestinovo, Gorjani, Kneževi Vinogradi, Levanjska Varoš, Petlovac, Podravska Moslavina, Popovac, Punutovci, Strizivojna, Viljevo, Viškovci, Vladislavci and Vuka.
Two mayors in that county, in the municipalities of Jagodnjak and Šodolovci, are already held by SDSS, a party that knows the names of its mayors before election day, and in the municipalities of Vrhovine, Biskupija and Negoslavci, five in total.
The names of 15 independent mayors, or those nominated by voters, are also known: Ksenija Krivec Jurak (Zagorska Sela), Ružica Karagić (Hrvatska Dubica), Sanja Kočet (Donja Voća), Lara Samošćanec (Đelekovec), Fredi Pali (Velika Pisanica), Neven Komadina (Dobrinj), Josip Brozović (Mrkopalj), Željko Perica (Stankovci), Anđelo Palaškov (Tkon), Ranko Blažević (Sutivan), Ivan Krželj (Zadvarje), Robert Medica (Lanišće), Leo Bezjak (Oprtalj), Goran Lovrec (Gornji Mihaljevec) and Valentino Škovrc (Mala Subotica).
Seven from IDS, three from the Democratic HSS party
IDS has seven safe mayors, either on its own or in coalition with other parties, and all of them are in the party's base, the Istrian region. These are Elvis Šterpin (Cerovlje), Claudio Stocovaz (Funtana), Sandro Jurman (Kanfanar), Đulijano Petrović (Kaštelir), Leo Knapić (Raša), Siniša Terlević (Sveti Lovreč) and Dean Perković (Svetvinčenat).
However, in that county, the HDZ also won two mayors in advance - Mladen Grget and Marko Lakošeljac in Funtana and Karojba.
The Democratic HSS party also elected three mayors in advance - Boro Bašljan in the municipality of Hercegovac, Igor Supan in Sirač and Andrija Juzbašić in Bošnjaci.
The PGS coalition has Rikard Staraj as mayor in Mošćenička Draža, HSS has its own Zlatko Fumić as head of the Brinje municipality, and in the coalition with SDP, HSS has also secured mayors in the municipalities of Sali and Stari Mikanovci, the latter being a member of parliament, Mario Milinković.
The SDP also has its mayor, Nikola Novak, in Nedelišće, Ivan Gulan in coalition with Fokus in Pirovac, and Anđelko Nagrajsalović in coalition with HSS and the Međimurje Democratic Alliance in Sveti Juraj na Breg.
HNS has a mayor in the municipality of Vratišinec
The HNS has an independent mayor in the municipality of Vratišinec (Mihael Grbavec), and in coalition with the HDZ, HSLS and Croatian Sovereignists in Strahoninec (Franjo Lehkec).
In the municipality of Preseka, the mayor Martin Marić was also secured before the elections by the Prefect of Zagreb County, Stjepan Kožić, or rather his independent list.
Along with SDP's Milinković, two more parliamentarians are calmly awaiting election Sunday, May 18th: HDZ's Darko Sobota and Goran Kaniški, who continue to lead their municipalities of Kalinovec and Gornji Kneginec.
Photo: HINA/Lana Slivar Dominić
