ZAGREB, April 9, 2018 – Davor Bernardić, the leader of Croatia’s strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), said on Sunday that the fall in the approval ratings of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was due to a split in the ruling party over ratification of the Istanbul Convention and a row about the education reform.
“The big decline of the HDZ is obviously the result of divisions within the party over ratification of the Istanbul Convention and a row with their coalition partners about important issues such as the curricular reform. We can see now that the Church, too, has started to distance itself from the HDZ, and there are also disastrous statements and initiatives by the Minister of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Nada Murganić, and the Minister of Health Milan Kujundžić. The failure to implement reforms should also be added to this. The HDZ has been on the decline over the last year and its decline is more evident today than before,” Bernardić said in response to questions from the press during a visit to Pregrada, about 60 kilometres northwest of Zagreb.
He was asked to comment on the latest opinion poll carried out by CRO Demoskop, which showed growing voter support for the SDP and the lowest support for the HDZ since last parliamentary elections.
The HDZ still tops the approval ratings, with 26.8 percent of respondents saying they support this party, as against 28.9 percent in March. It is the sharpest decline of voter support (-2.1 percentage points) in this monthly survey.
The second most popular party is the SDP, with 21.1 percent support, up from 20.8 percent last month. The HDZ’s lead has dropped to 5.7 percent, leaving the smallest gap between the two parties in the past year.
Bernardić expressed confidence that the SDP would continue to grow, saying that the party was stable and ready to take the helm of the country for a third time.
