Croatian voters asked to choose between Prime Minister and President

On Wednesday, Croatian voters go to the polls to elect a new national parliament. They will vote for 151 MPs, with two political parties fighting for the majority of seats. The ruling Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, led by PM Andrej Plenkovic, is on one side, while on the other is the Social Democratic Party (SDP), supported by the country's incumbent president Zoran Milanovic.

Besides fierce political battles, these elections are shrouded in many controversies. One of which is Milanovic's announcement from a few weeks ago that he'll run for the seat on the SDP list.

It was a move that shook Croatia and triggered the Constitutional Court to ban the president from participating in the elections. And not just that. The court issued a gag order to the SDP, forbidding them to publicly use the president's name during the campaign. At Zagreb's famous Kvatric market we met the SDP leader Peda Grbin, who came here for one of its last public appearances before the elections.

"As you know, the Constitutional Court of Croatia has made a decision that doesn't put me in a position to comment on any actions of the president of the Republic." Grbin told CGTN. "Basically, we are condemned to be quiet about his activities. We are not at liberty to say pretty much anything."

The day after, the ruling HDZ had a rally at one of Zagreb's central city squares. Incumbent PM Andrej Plenkovic addressed the supporters, outlining the achievements in the past two mandates and how long they have been running the country. He also expressed optimism about the election results.

"I just got a message that all three election opinion polls came out," Plenkovic stated. "And all three project that we'll have 60 seats from the votes in Croatia, three in the diaspora, and that is 63. We need just five more, so nobody else could demand anything from us after the elections."

Yet some analysts in Zagreb point at so many strange things surrounding these elections. From the fact that, for the first time in modern history, those are organized in the middle of the week, to the mixed messages regarding the political orientations.

It is also an opinion of one of Croatia's top political journalists Boris Raseta who said, "it became evident that the head of the right-wing party is more liberal and left-wing-oriented than the PM candidate of the left-center (party), Zoran Milanovic, who is more right-wing and nationalistic.

This is a comedy of confusion. Andrej Plenkovic would fit far better as the head of the SDP, while Zoran Milanovic is at the top of the HDZ." 

Although this might seem like a two-horse race, analysts do not exclude the possibility of more surprises when the results are out.

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