AFP, October 10, 2003
Croatian nationalists looking strong: poll
ZAGREB, (AFP) - Croatia's nationalist party is looking strong ahead parliamentary elections proposed for November, an opinion poll showed Thursday.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was backed by 28 percent of 4,000 people questioned, with a significant 10-percent advantage over the ruling center-left coalition's main Social Democratic Party (SDP), the poll showed.
The SDP's main partner in the five-party coalition, the Croatian Peasants' Party, held third position with the support of 11 percent of those interviewed.
The survey was conducted by the Puls polling agency at the request of the International Republican Institute.
The ruling coalition has called for legislative elections to be held on November 23, but the vote is yet to be approved by President Stipe Mesic.
The HDZ, founded by the late autocratic leader Franjo Tudjman, ruled the Balkans country after its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 until January 2000, when it suffered a crushing defeat by the pro-European coalition.
A recently formed coalition made up of the Social Liberal Party and the Democratic Center, the latter being founded by HDZ dissidents, was backed by nine percent of the people surveyed for the poll.
A junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Croatian People's Party, and the opposition Croatian Party of Rights enjoyed the support of eight and five percent of those questioned respectively.
According to the poll, 79 percent of respondents said they would participate in the vote, 18 percent said they would abstain while the remaining three percent were not sure.
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