Prime Minister and leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Andrej Plenkovic, said on Monday that the party had agreed who the party's candidate for Zagreb mayor would be in the upcoming local elections - without revealing the candidate's name.

“The candidate will definitely be a member of the HDZ, and someone who is very good, and who I think can achieve a great result and someone who will definitely be in the game to become the new mayor. I think that this is in the end a better option than what we had discussed with mister Vandjelic,” Plenkovic said after a meeting of the HDZ leadership.

Vandjelic is a non-party businessman who was appointed to head a special fund for reconstruction of Zagreb following a massive earthquake that hit the city in March.

He was tipped in the local media to become HDZ party’s candidate for mayor of Zagreb in the local elections scheduled for May 2021, where HDZ ally and former SDP member Milan Bandic is widely expected to lose and end his almost 20-year reign in the capital city.

However, Plenkovic did not reveal the identity of the candidate on Monday, noting that ‘the public would be informed about the candidate once HDZ’s Zagreb branch makes the decision on the nomination since the candidate was proposed on its initiative.’

Asked why the new candidate will be a ‘better option’ than Damir Vandjelic, who had refused HDZ’s offer to lead their slate in Zagreb, Plenkovic said that the candidate ‘had motivation and a serious approach to win.’

He said that ‘everything important for the local elections’ would be defined ‘in the coming week,’ as HDZ is expected to define its entire entire lineup of candidates for all cities and counties.

Asked whether Vandjelic will remain at the helm of the Reconstruction Fund, Plenkovic said that Vandjelic himself had announced that he would only be the acting director, adding that if someone is an acting director, that means he will be one ‘for some time.’

Plenkovic said this had nothing to do with Vandjelic’s refusal to run for mayor, but it was a result of talks held in October last year. However, Vandjelic had earlier announced that he would apply for the permanent post of the fund’s director through a public call opened on 22 December 2020.