Tomislav Tomasevic: From Grassroots Activist to Zagreb Frontrunner

Rather than being a work-horse for the people of Zagreb, Bandic is "a Trojan horse working against the citizens," Tomasevic told some 4,000 protesters at the site.

Avoiding old ideological divides

Tomislav Tomasevic at a protest against a construction project in Zagreb's Varsavska street, February 2010. Photo: Flickr/tomislav medak.

Tomasevic is rare among Croatian politicians in having no record of collaboration with Bandic.

The ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, regularly worked with the late mayor and his party at both the local and national level, while the opposition Social Democrats counted Bandic among its members until 2010.

Bandic had a colourful career, marred by allegations of corruption. He was investigated several times, detained by police in 2014 and acquitted of graft in 2018. He was still on trial in a second case when he died.

He also faced criticism over a perceived lack of transparency in the city's dealings and its spending on what critics said were little more than vanity projects, from fountains to obscure monuments. Meanwhile, Zagreb's infrastructure issues mounted.

As dissatisfaction with Bandic's rule grew, so too did an intolerance of incomers to the city, known in Zagreb slang as 'dotepenci'. Bandic was born in Bosnia, when both Bosnia and Croatia were part of the socialist Yugoslav federation. Some Zagreb residents developed a belief that the city would be better run by one of their own.

Tomasevic is a Zagreb native, but he has never joined the chorus against the 'dotepenci'. Indeed, his party avoids getting involved in the long-running ideological battle between the left and right in Croatia over the country's role in World War Two, its Yugoslav past...