With the national political scene in chaos, all eyes turned to the local elections last night in Croatia, and there were plenty of stories and surprises all over the country, which you can read about in the Total Croatia News political section.
But how did the people of Hvar vote in the mayoral elections in Hvar Town, Stari Grad, Jelsa and Sucuraj?
Under election laws, a candidate is deemed the outright winner in the first round if he/she achieves more than 50% of the vote. Hvar Town's current mayor Rino Budrovic was down 6% on his 2013 showing, but narrowly leads a new contender, Rikardo Novak, who polled just 2% less. They will go head to head on June 4, with the one with the most votes running the town for the next four years.
Another run-off in June 4 will be required in Stari Grad, where HDZ's Mihaela Petric took more than 43% of the vote, compared to her closest oppenent's 37%, Antonio Skarpa. With all other candidate eliminated in the run-off, it remains to be seen how the other votes will be dispersed.
The story of the night was in Jelsa region, however, the place where HDZ Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic hails from, and the town which has undergone so much infrastructure change in the last four years. How would the voters react? While HDZ candidate Anita Drinkovic narrowly won in the Prime Minister's village of Svirce, she was crushed overall, with current mayor Niksa Peronja adding an impressive 20% to his tally, and with more than 57% of the vote, no run-off is necessary. One assumes the mayor will reflect that the strong mandate is a reflection of support of his vision of the town, and not a call for four more years of digging...
And no re-run required in Sucuraj either, where current mayor Ivan Slavic narrowly passed the important 50% threshold.
For all results (In Croatian) and a breakdown of all the voting, including local councils, visit the Izbori.hr website.
