Zagreb Mayor Hints at Rapid Political Comeback

In spite of being on bail while an investigation into corruption is ongoing, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic has made it clear he intends to contest another election in the near future.

Currently, he is banned by the Zagreb county court from performing any of his mayoral duties while an investigation proceeds into alleged corruption, abuse of office and influence peddling.

After being arrested last October, Bandic was released from remand after almost a month, setting a record bail of almost 2 million euro.

Bandic announced his likely political comeback on Tuesday evening, after meeting a group of supporters from "The Club of the List of Milan Bandic's Group of Voters".

"I do not know which elections will be the new ones, but they will certainly be on my backs," he said, meaning that he will be "attacked" by his opponents and media, adding: "One should be brief and concise with words, while long and effective with deeds."

"I am glad that people have not forgotten all the positive work that we have done," he concluded, noting that while the court had banned him from performing his mayor's duties, it had not banned him from running for office.

Political analyst and retired university professor Zarko Puhovski said he thought Bandic was probably laying the ground for early mayoral elections in Zagreb.

"This looks like a tactical move for the Zagreb elections, particularly for the mayoral elections," Puhovski said for BIRN.

"I am not sure that he will use this potential for parliamentary elections, since they are relatively far away. He can trigger early elections for the post of Zagreb mayor simply by resigning from mayor's post," Puhovski added.

"He wants to put immense pressure on the court [Zagreb county court],...