Nova Gradiška still waiting for its mayor after another runoff election

Nova Gradiška will have to wait again for a mayor. In the first round of another repeated early election, independent candidate Sabina Vlaović narrowly finished ahead of HDZ candidate Bruno Bušić, but neither won the majority needed to take the city’s top office.

Vlaović received 1,654 votes, or 38%, while Bušić won 1,608 votes, or 37%. Independent candidate Borislav Vidošić came third with 958 votes, or 22%. Turnout stood at 38.11%, and Vlaović and Bušić will now face each other in the runoff.

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Thank you to all the citizens who gave me their vote. I hope the same result will remain in the second round and that I will stay in first place.

Vlaović was backed by an independent list that brought together some former associates and political supporters of former mayor Vinko Grgić. During the campaign, she said the corruption investigation involving her predecessor did not burden her candidacy. She said she was running under her own name and hoped voters would recognize who she was and what she stood for.

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It was too much to expect someone to win already in the first round. I am very satisfied with the result, because it is no small thing to be better than the HDZ.

“Thank you to all the citizens who gave me their vote. I hope the same result will remain in the second round and that I will stay in first place,” Vlaović said. She added that she had expected to reach the runoff with Bušić and called the result highly satisfying, saying it was no small achievement to finish ahead of the HDZ. Her list wants to continue projects already started, she said.

Bušić, who had run for deputy mayor in May, described his result as excellent and said the vote showed that citizens wanted change. He said his team had spent recent weeks listening to residents and would continue doing so before the runoff. This was the city’s third election in 15 months. For the first time in a decade, Grgić did not defend the mayoral seat. He resigned twice from detention amid corruption suspicions and later won elections. Two separate cases against him remain active, one led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and another still under investigation by USKOK.

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We must agree that Nova Gradiška can do better and deserves stability, serious work and responsibility.