Elections: Why Croatia holds the “world record” for the number of candidates
No fewer than 31,802 candidates competed in Croatia's local elections on May 18. The Croatian press is calling it a phenomenon, even a "miracle," in a country with only 3.5 million voters, and sees a link to the remuneration of elected officials.
“World record!” exclaims Jutarnji List . With 3.5 million voters, Croatia easily beats Denmark, a country with 1 million more voters, and its 9,165 registered candidates for the 2021 municipal elections. And for good reason: no fewer than 31,802 people applied to run in Croatia's local elections on May 18, the liberal newspaper points out.
Is Croatia, however, the "Mecca" of direct and participatory democracy, asks the Zagreb daily. Unfortunately not, it replies, explaining that "the figure of 31,802 candidates, including 3,647 for executive positions (prefects, mayors and their deputies) and 21,112 for municipal assemblies and councils, rather reveals an overly cumbersome local administration, which has become a real, costly and inefficient behemoth."
Croatia has 428 municipalities and 127 cities, 420 of which have fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, 202 have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, and 55 have fewer than 1,000, Vecernji List points out . “Some municipalities spend most of their budget on the salaries of mayors and other employees, while there is no money for public services,” the newspaper asserts.
Could the enthusiasm for local politics be driven by the comfortable salaries of civil servants? Mayors with salaries of more than €2,000 – the average Croatian net salary is €1,028 in 2023, according to the EU – run municipalities with a few hundred inhabitants, like the new mayor of the smallest Croatian municipality, Civljanje (in the hinterland of Sibenik, in the south of the country), which has 171 inhabitants. She was elected on May 18 with 88 votes, reports the weekly Nacional .
The first round of local elections confirmed the dominance of the ruling conservative party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), in most small and medium-sized towns and municipalities. The capital, Zagreb, is expected to remain in the hands of the Mozemo (We Can – Social and Ecological Left) movement, whose current mayor received 47% of the vote and is therefore the favorite for the second round on June 1 .
In Rijeka, the independent candidate of the Young Action party and its partners dethroned the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which had ruled the country's third-largest city for thirty-five years. A fierce battle looms in the second round in Split, the country's second-largest city, where the incumbent mayor of the Centre party is threatened by the Croatian Democratic Union and local lists.
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