The head of the Split branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Vice Mihanovic, said on Friday that following the resignation of Mayor Ivica Puljak and his two deputies earlier in the day, the HDZ councillors would also step down after the next City Council meeting.

Mihanovic said that the HDZ was sure of its victory in the early elections for the Mayor and the City Council of Croatia’s second largest city.

Speaking to the press, he declined to reveal the HDZ’s mayoral candidate and said that all the speculation by the media in that regard were unsubstantiated.

Asked why the HDZ councillors would not resign immediately, Mihanovic said that all the HDZ members of  the City Council would step down at the next City Council meeting to avoid a blockade of the city.

He accused Puljak of having caused havoc in the city administration in the ten months of his mayorship.

Mihanovic claimed that Puljak decided to protect his deputy, Bojan Ivosevic, charged with a criminal offence, instead of delving into development projects.

Mayor Puljak and his deputies Ivosevic and Antonio Kuzmanic formally tendered their resignations on Friday morning. Puljak said that the councillors from his Centre party would resign at the next session of the City Council.