Milanović: People Have the Right to Choose the Worst

It is encouraging that the turnout was solid, this is in itself a good sign for democracy and I call on everyone to come out in equal or greater numbers in the second round where there is a second round – these are the words with which Prime Minister Zoran Milanović began his reflection on the local elections.

Milanović congratulated everyone who passed in the first round, and wished the others a fair and honest fight.
– As for the results, it is difficult and manipulative to categorically assert anything after the first round. Considering the measures we are implementing and the situation, looking back four years, it is more or less the same. There are changes, in large cities the SDP is the strongest, but I cannot be satisfied with the results, especially not in Zagreb – said the head of the SDP.
– Our candidates did not paint tunnels or promise the impossible, we have adhered to that and we will continue as far as we can, I will not waver on that. As for the city of Zagreb, it is bad and it needs to change, whether that will happen I do not know, but I will not stop working on it – says Milanović.
Commenting on Split, he said that there ‘after quite a bit of wandering, one option prevailed that represents a fair mentality, that is Ivo Baltasar.’
– Of course, the job is not done, we need to convince people again to choose better. Citizens have the right, some have chosen the worst and that is okay, that is democracy – says Milanović.
– Split is neither red nor black but is primarily its own – he adds.

– In Rijeka, as expected, Obersnel did not pass in the first round, we knew it would be around 50 percent, there is a second round – he says.
Speaking about the result of Milan Bandić, Milanović says that he has a duty within the law to cooperate with everyone who has been elected no matter how much he likes them, but he also has a duty to say what he sees.
– And I see bad – says the Prime Minister.
– I became the president of the party so that I could deal with phenomena like him, Rajko Ostojić is much better, cleaner, and more educated. This is not a choice for a European Zagreb, it has nothing to do with Europe. Zagreb is backward, disorganized, without waste incinerators, nothing significant has happened, except for small marketing tricks.
The Mayor of Zagreb has almost unlimited budget to buy loyalty, and as for the statements of his closest associates, it would be good for the public to see who they are and what statements they make.
I was taught that it is important both what is said and who speaks. And what is said has nothing to do with Croatian traditions and customs, especially not Zagreb’s. People have the right to choose the worst, and we will continue with reforms – he concluded.