The identity of the person behind the mysterious billboards has been revealed.
Although the election campaign will not officially start for another week, it is obvious that it is actually in full swing already. The first election billboards have already appeared on the streets, as can be witnessed by citizens of Zagreb, reports RTL on August 8, 2016.
In several Zagreb neighbourhoods, large billboards appeared with the inscription “#Premijer” (#PrimeMinister). After several days of uncertainty, the person behind the billboard has been revealed. As expected, it is Milan Bandić, the Mayor of Zagreb and one of numerous self-proclaimed candidates for Prime Minister. Although campaigning is not allowed before the campaign officially stars, he will probably not pay the penalty because he successfully circumvented the law, since the billboards, except for the inscription, do not contain the name of the candidate or his party.
The State Election Commission is expected to discuss today whether it was permissible to place such billboards so early, about ten days before the official start of the campaign. The author of the billboard, Milan Bandić, revealed himself on Sunday. “Soon you will see who is behind the hashtag”, said Badić. He will today organize a special news conference, where he said he would announce “exclusive news of great importance for Croatia”.
According to a recent RTL poll, Bandić is the third most preferred candidate for Prime Minister. Zoran Milanović (SDP) is first with 32.2 percent of support, followed by Andrej Plenković (HDZ; 22.2 percent), Milan Bandić (10.8 percent), and Božo Petrov (MOST; 9.7 percent),
“If people choose the two interns [Milanović and Plenković], I will congratulate them, but if they elect a man who has been the Mayor for five terms and is the leader of half of Croatia, then they will live like we live in Zagreb. The people have the choice, and they will primarily vote for themselves when Bandić is concerned. I do not need any new terms in office, I have them too many of them already, but I want to help this country”, said the Mayor of Zagreb.
Milan Bandić and his party, which is called Bandić Milan 365, will go to the polls in a coalition with the Reformists Party, led by Radimir Čačić, former Deputy Prime Minister. Both of them have problems with the law, Bandić due to a number of criminal proceedings against him for financial crimes and corruption, while Čačić was imprisoned due to a traffic accident which he caused in Hungary in which two persons died.
In last Parliament, Bandić originally had just two MPs, but managed to convince several others to join his parliamentary group during the several months before Parliament dissolved for the early elections. While it is not expected that Bandić could win many more seats this time around, if the results between HDZ, SDP and MOST are close as expected, Bandić could be in a position to decide on who will form the next government.
