Opposition chimes in on presidential debate

Following the televised debate between Zoran Milanović and Dragan Primorac on Tuesday evening, the parliamentary opposition is convinced that the incumbent will win a second term in office. 

At the same time, members of the opposition is calling for the election to be seen as a referendum against the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Mišel Jakšić of the SDP said on that Zoran Milanović will become president of Croatia again, while Dragan Primorac, the HDZ party and Andrej Plenković will be defeated.

Dragan Primorac, he commented sarcastically, “behaved like a well-behaved child and presented only correct facts, never lied, slandered or insulted. He was truly marvellous, a perfect example of a great candidate hand-picked by Andrej Plenković.”

Jakšić does not believe that voters will stay at home on Sunday. He emphasises that Milanović’s charisma among voters will influence the result.

Sandra Benčić from the far-left We Can! party said she did not want to judge who won the debate, but noted that it was absolutely clear who the loser was. “Just like during the entire election campaign, Dragan Primorac showed again yesterday what I said - that he is the anti-candidate and that the outcome of the second round is very simple and predictable,” she said.

Asked if it was possible that Milanović’s supporters would stay at home on Sunday because they think the election is already decided, she said that nothing is ever decided until the election is over.

“Voters’ positions are already set and very few people will change their stance because of the debate,” said Nikola Grmoja from the Bridge party, whose presidential candidate Miro Bulj did not make it to the second round.

“I don’t think the debate will change anything, the voters will decide for themselves. We said after the first round that our voters are not sheep and we will not propose anything to them, but the first round has already shown that there is a strong anti-Plenković sentiment among the population,” Grmoja said, adding that the result of the second round will most likely be similar.