The battle for the mayor of Split has turned into the most exciting race of the second round of local elections.
With the second round of local elections coming on Sunday, all eyes are turned towards Split, where former mayor Željko Kerum and HDZ’s candidate Andro Krstulović Opara are trading accusations and even insults, while the latest poll shows that Kerum has a slight advantage, reports dnevnik.hr June 1, 2017.
On Wednesday evening, Nova TV published the results of its latest poll. The survey was conducted by the Ipsos agency on 29 and 30 May on a random sample of 803 adult citizens of Split. Željko Kerum currently has the support of 45.4 percent of voters, while Andro Krstulović Opara follows closely behind with 41.8 percent of the electorate. Kerum’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error.
With regards to those voters who in the first round two weeks ago voted for other candidates, Krstulović Opara can count on 48 percent of the electorate of Pametno party. However, 27 percent of the party’s voters will support Kerum. As for voters of Aida Batarelo (SDP), 56 percent of them will support Kerum, and 21 percent of them will give their vote to Krstulović Opara. Among MOST’s voters, 48 percent will vote for Kerum and 36 percent for Krstulović Opara.
A plurality of respondents (48 percent) think that the situation in the town has worsened in the last four years, 40 percent believe that it has remained more or less the same, while 9 percent believe that the situation has improved.
The poll was conducted before an incident on Wednesday when Kerum and Krstulović Opara almost engaged in a fight during a debate organized by Slobodna Dalmacija. At the end of the discussion, while leaving the room, Kerum launched a series of brutal insults against Krstulović Opara. The incident was on the verge of a physical fight.
Kerum also claimed that former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović had told him that Opara was a “girl.” In a brutal attack on Opara, Kerum said that he was “a bad man,” absolutely the worst,” and he also accused him of prostituting himself in Milan while he was there as an advisor at the Croatian consulate. He called Opara a fool and asked him, “What are you looking at, do you want me to hit you, you idiot ape.” After that, Kerum picked up his belongings and left the room, but not before calling his opponent a “fag.”
Andro Krstulović Opara announced later that he would cancel all further debates because he did not want “to expose himself and his family to the madness of this man.”
