Ivica Puljak, who was short 1.3 percentage points for the victory in the first round of the election, and Zoran Djogas, the candidate supported by the centre-right HDZ party will vie in the Adriatic city of Split's mayoral runoff, according DIP's first results of the snap elections held on Sunday.

The first official results released by the State Electoral Commission (DIP) after all of the 163 polling stations had closed, showed that Puljak had won 48.7 percent of the vote, while Djogas came second with 25.6 percent of the vote. They will go on into the second round of the snap election, to be held on June 10.

Other mayoral seven candidates won below 10 percent of the vote: Zeljko Kerum of the HGS (7.94 percent), Josip Markotic of the Most party (4.53 percent), Aris Zlodre of the DP party (3.89 percent), Davor Matijevic of the SDP (3.84 percent), Tamara Viskovic of the Mozemo! and the New Left (1.85 percent), Kristina Vidan of the Pametno za Split i Dalmaciju (1.28 percent) and an independent Ante Franic (0.66 percet).

Puljak’s Centar party wins a relative majority in city council

The early elections were also held for the 31-seat city council, and according to the returns from the polling stations the Centar party won 42.47 percent of the vote. The slate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) follows with 23.81 percent, while the HGS party of a former mayor Kerum ranks third with 7.11 percent of the vote.

The other three slates that passed the 5 percent threshold are Most with 6.61 percent of the vote, the SDP/HSU with 5.75 percent and the DP party with its partners HDS and HSP and the Sovereignists (5.63 percent).

The turnout at the polls was 31.6 percent.

Early elections for the mayor and the city council were held slightly more than 12 months after the ordinary local elections which were held in Croatia in May 2022. The snap polls were called after Mayor Ivica Puljak and his two deputies tendered their resignations on April 8, following a scandal involving Deputy Mayor Bojan Ivosevic, who threatened a local reporter and was subsequently indicted for intimidation. The Office of the State Prosecutor (DORH) in Split issued the indictment on March 23.

After their resignation, the members of the 31-seat city council also stepped down, paving the way for an early election for the city council.