New Mayor of Split

Split city government crisis is over, or at least this is the impression you might take from the relatively smooth handover of mayor's seat to former deputy mayor Miroslav Buličić (Miroslav Bulicic). Buličić has been set to become mayor on the basis of coalition deal between SDP and HSLS, following 2001 elections and months-old impasse in which HSLS toyed with the idea of forming government with far right parties. According to the deal, SDP would have position of mayor in the first two years of mandate, then HSLS, namely Buličić, would get the top spot. When Split county organisation of HSLS decided to wreck the deal, Buličić felt deprived of mayoral position and, together with few more dissidents, decided to leave HSLS.

Buličić's mayorship is not the development that would stir imagination of Split citizens. Due to very limited powers of local governments (and that includes cities of Split size) and due to the fact that Buličić used to be among the most valuable, efficient and reliable part of former administration of Slobodan Beroš (Slobodan Beros), SDP politician who is slated to become Croatian consul in New York. This would hardly represent a major change.