Future Croatian Premier Has Job Cut Out For Him

The future Croatian prime minister, whether Sanader or Milanovic, will not have a easy task at all, Slovenia’s Delo daily writes.

All world media covered the parliamentary elections in Croatia, from the most influential such as the International Herald Tribune, Reuters and Wall Street Journal, to Chinese, Malaysian and United Arab Emirates media.

Reuters reported this morning that there was no clear winner in Croatian elections. The agency cites data according to which the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 60 and Social Democratic Party (SDP) 57 seats in parliament, stressing that the leading HDZ did not have a parliament majority. The two parties, between which there are no clear differences, are starting negotiations with coalition partners and, due to the complex electoral system in Croatia, both have equal chances to form the future government, Reuters writes.

The election will not affect the financial market

It is interesting that the BBC and New York Times ran no news about the electoral results, only yesterday’s voting announcements, while, on the other hand, the Khaleej Times from the United Arab Emirates, ran an article about how the chief opposition party is hoping that it will be able to form a government despite the fewer number of votes than the ruling party got.

The prominent Wall Street Journal ran a short article about exit polls showing that the left-centre opposition party was in a slight lead ahead of the ruling conservatives, but that neither party had a clear majority. The formation of the future government is unclear and depends on post-electoral agreements, the paper writes.

The International Herald Tribune also only ran the results of exit polls according to which the opposition was in the lead. According to the results, the paper assesses that the social democrats would have 61 seats in parliament and the HDZ 57, but stresses that the ruling party can also count on votes from the Diaspora, mainly from Bosnia. The election should not significantly affect the financial market because the country’s political and economic programmes are conditional upon negotiations with the EU, the International Herald Tribune wrote.

Fight for coalition partners

AFP reported about the fight for power in Croatia. The agency ran recent results according to which the ratio of mandates was 60:57 and writes that both parties are looking for coalition partners. The extensive article relayed the atmosphere from the HDZ and SDP’s electoral headquarters, as well as statements by Ivo Sanader and Zoran Milanovic. The AFP reported about the history of multi-party elections in Croatia and the rise of Zoran Milanovic to power whom many are comparing to Tony Blair.

Serbia’s B92 radio announced stories about coalitions in Croatia. According to the radio, the HDZ has a slight advantage over the SDP and both parties celebrated yesterday night. According to the preliminary, incomplete results, all three national minority MPs had confirmed their mandates in the national minority electoral unit.

Slovenia’s daily Delo ran the electoral results issued by the State Electoral Commission at 4am and announced that the future prime minister, whether it be Sanader or Milanovic, would not have an easy task. The daily also writes that Sanader had said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had congratulated him, as did the president of the European People’s Party, Wilfried Martens.

Asian media have more recent information

The Euronews news site ran an article entitled “Champagne On Ice in Croatia Elections”, about the HDZ winning the parliamentary election and its second government stint, but that it was impossible to confirm the victory of either party. Talks on coalitions will be crucial and the “former amateur boxer” Zoran Milanovic continues to fight to form a government, says the news site.

Khaleej Times writes that the Croatian opposition is hoping to form the future government and runs statements by Ivo Sanader and Zoran Milanovic. The same information was published by Al Jazeera.

China’s People’s Daily reports that the Croatian prime minister had proclaimed electoral victory. It ran Sanader’s statement about the need to negotiate with the head of the Croatian Peasants’ Party, Josip Friscic, about the formation of the new government.

Malaysia Sun from Malaysia ran a brief article with the latest results of the elections and writes that the race is still uncertain and tight.