Opposition parties set to take power in Croatia and Slovenia

CROATIA AND Slovenia have punished their governments for scandals and poor handling of the economic crisis, according to exit polls that gave election victories to opposition parties in both former Yugoslav republics.

In Croatia, two exit polls gave a coalition of centre-left parties known as the Alliance for Change or Kukuriku (cock-a-doodle-doo) 83 seats in the 151-seat parliament, far ahead of the incumbent conservative HDZ party with 40 seats.

The HDZ, which has dominated politics in Croatia for two decades, suffered due to the country’s financial woes and a string of corruption scandals that cast grave doubt on how the party is run and on the probity of some of its members.

Ivo Sanader, a long-time HDZ leader who was Croatia’s prime minister from 2003 to 2009, is on trial for accepting a €10 million bribe from a Hungarian energy firm and a smaller one from an Austrian bank, and for channelling cash from state companies into private and party slush funds.

He denies the charges, but the case has put intense scrutiny on the HDZ and produced a string of damaging headlines, undermining Croatian prime minister Jadranka Kosor’s claims to be rooting out corruption and organised crime ahead of Croatia’s accession to the EU in 2013.

Ms Kosor is expected to be replaced by Zoran Milanovic (45), leader of the Social Democratic Party that spearheads the Kukuriku alliance.

“I hope the citizens will have confidence in us. The central issue in these elections . . . is confidence,” said Mr Milanovic.

The former diplomat warned his countrymen that they would have to work “more, harder and longer” to drag Croatia out of an economic slump and prepare it for EU membership.

“The easier part is winning the election. Reforming the country will be much more difficult,” he said, having pledged to lead Croatia in “a more honest and efficient way”.

In neighbouring Slovenia, exit polls gave an unexpected victory to a new party led by Zoran Jankovic, the billionaire mayor of the capital, Ljubljana.

The polls gave his centre-left Positive Slovenia party a narrow win over the conservatives led by Janez Jansa, a former prime minister whom pre-election surveys had suggested would quite comfortably secure a return to power.

The ruling Social Democrats were soundly beaten, having been blamed for mishandling an economic downturn that has caused unwelcome rises in Slovenia’s deficit, public debt and the interest it must pay to borrow money. The country’s credit rating was also downgraded recently.

Mr Jankovic benefited from being a new face in national politics, while Mr Jansa may have suffered due to his own alleged involvement in bribery as part of Slovenia’s biggest arms deal. He has dismissed charges brought against him as “a farce” orchestrated by his political enemies.