Croatians Vote Opposition Parties Into Power

Ending a decade of authoritarian rule by the party of late President Franjo Tudjman, Croatian voters Monday chose an alliance between Croatia’s former Communist Party chief and a onetime dissident.

Tudjman’s once-powerful Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, conceded defeat early today after partial election results showed strong popular support for a center-left coalition led by the Social Democratic Party and the Social Liberal Party.

Social Democratic Party leader Ivica Racan, 55, headed Croatia’s Communist Party in 1991. The Social Liberals’ Drazen Budisa, 52, was jailed 20 years ago for his pro-democracy activism.

“Together with the other opposition bloc, I think we will have a very stable majority,” Racan said after partial results were announced. “I am ready to become prime minister, and I am aware it is not going to be easy.”

With 61% of the ballots counted, the alliance was ahead in eight out of 10 of Croatia’s voting districts, the state electoral commission reported.

The Social Democrat-led coalition had about 40% of the votes cast. A second group of parties allied against the HDZ tallied about 16%.

That gave the opposition a combined 56% against only 25% for Tudjman’s party, a dramatic drop from the 44% it won in the last vote for parliament in 1995.

The HDZ, which Tudjman founded, had hoped to counter growing opposition at home with a strong turnout by staunch supporters among Croats in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and by expatriate Croats visiting from abroad for the holiday season.

But their votes, and favorable reporting by the state-controlled media, failed to save the party widely blamed for Croatia’s economic stagnation, endemic corruption and international isolation.

“Perhaps a change of power might not be so bad. It is much easier to be in opposition,” Nikica Valentic, the HDZ’s candidate for prime minister, told state television as early returns indicated that his party was headed for defeat.

More than 60% of Croatia’s 3.8 million eligible voters cast ballots in an election contested by 55 parties.

Voters return to the polls to pick a president Jan. 24, but Monday’s parliamentary election is considered more significant because the new legislature is likely to sharply cut presidential power.

After a decade of Tudjman’s near-monopoly on power, Croatian voters such as Klaudio Nezic, 24, were hoping to strike a better balance by shifting more control to the legislature.

“I’m certain that will happen,” Nezic said. “Because if the parliament is OK, everything is OK. There are many parties in parliament, and they will fix problems themselves. The president will just be a figurehead to drink coffee with other presidents.”

With 20% unemployment and rampant corruption in Croatia, many voters had one worry foremost in their minds: the economy.

“I just want less corruption and more places to work,” Nezic said as he waited with about 100 other voters outside a polling station in Zagreb’s Club Meduza restaurant. “The economy has been bad for some time now. There’s no way it can be worse.”

While most voters demanded change, the death of the 77-year-old Tudjman last month has left many Croatians wondering who is worthy to replace him, and exactly how much power the next president should have.

By choosing a coalition government, Croatian voters are risking political instability as politicians jockey for position, and some voters said they know the real solutions to their problems may be a long time coming.

“Personally, I don’t think I can change anything, but together maybe we can do something,” said Nezic, a university student studying naval architecture. “I’m not too optimistic, but I think this time there are going to be some changes--not a revolution. It’s going to take some years for things to be better.”

Nezic said he voted for the coalition led by the Social Democrats but plans to give his vote for president to Stipe Mesic, a popular opposition politician who was the last president of the Yugoslav federation before it began to break up in 1991.