Left on Price Tour, HDZ Halts Support Decline
While SDP and Možemo! toured Croatia explaining price hikes and declining purchasing power, they avoided issues that shook the state, such as Ustasha revival and ecocide in Gospić.
While SDP and Možemo! toured Croatia explaining price hikes and declining purchasing power, they avoided issues that shook the state, such as Ustasha revival and ecocide in Gospić.
From late May to late July 2026, SDP and Možemo! conducted a tour across Croatia called "Plenković's Inflation." The focus was exclusively on prices, the consumer basket, cost of living, social situation, and the economy. All other pressing social issues were deliberately avoided, a practice that has continued since last summer.
The result is measurable. According to Nova TV's July Crobarometer, HDZ halted its months-long decline in support. At the same time, SDP reached its lowest level of support in the past twelve months. The strategy of focusing on inflation did not yield the expected points.
The left-wing opposition, in fact since last summer, has been giving a wide berth to all pressing social crises. The right-wing revolution, Marko Perković Thompson and his ZDS tour, blackshirts, and hooligans. Then came the press revelations about toxic waste disposal, culminating in the crisis in Gospić and this week's emergency session of Parliament.
In response to events that shook the state, undermined constitutional foundations, affected minorities, human rights, and social norms, the left-wing opposition leadership reacted with hesitation. Almost forced, late, occasionally, and individually. They also reacted with a significant delay and almost under duress to the ecocide in Gospić, involving thousands of tons of toxic waste.
The "Plenković's Inflation" tour explained to citizens what they already feel firsthand-how much everything has become more expensive and how much their purchasing power has fallen. It's not necessary for Siniša Hajdaš Dončić or Sandra Benčić to point that out. Voters decide based on their own financial interests, but that doesn't mean they will automatically support SDP or Možemo!.
Inflation, like the economy, finances, budget, or GDP, is a complex topic. It's hard for the average citizen to understand, especially in political discourse. Ordinary voters don't know exactly what inflation is, let alone what connection Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has to it. If Plenković lowers the inflation rate, "Plenković's Inflation" ultimately becomes "Plenković's Victory."
The economy is not an issue that will stir passion among voters, prompt them to action, or particularly inspire them. It's uncertain that dissatisfaction will be redirected toward the left. It's more realistic to expect that they will turn to anti-system or populist parties. Alternatively, this could lead to many dissatisfied individuals emigrating from Croatia.
Prime Minister Zoran Milanović didn't fall over the economy but over the tent protesters. Ivica Račan completed the highways to Rijeka and Split, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Croatia's history, but lost the election due to The Hague and concessions to the right. The economy has never brought down HDZ from power, nor has it helped the left seize power through economic issues.
Thompson today doesn't just gather young right-wingers, Ustashas, and blackshirts. He also mobilizes the liberal left and citizens who defend a normal, European, modern, and anti-fascist Croatia. Such voters then punish the political option that supports the right, exploits it, and encourages it from the right-namely Plenković's HDZ and its coalition allies.
In the last elections, the left used the appointment of Ivan Turudić as a call for voter resistance to HDZ. That quickly fizzled out, with Zoran Milanović's backing. Under Milanović's influence, the left-wing opposition avoids ideological and worldview issues, conflicts with the right, blackshirts, Thompson, kneelers, hooligans, and Ustashas, leaving all that to Dalija Orešković.
In the case of Gospić and the pollution of Croatia, the media and associations have the main say. Most is the loudest with its right-wing, populist, and xenophobic views. The left-wing opposition only formally performs its role: routinely calling for the government's fall, which won't happen, clumsily leading the debate in Gospić, which HDZ obstructs and where citizens have no opportunity to speak.
The issue of hazardous waste can cause fear among citizens, prompting them to topple a government responsible for large amounts of garbage. It can present the left-wing opposition as a movement advocating for ecology, environmental protection, soil, water, and people from poisoning, not just inflation. SDP has long failed to attract voters. Možemo! manages to evoke emotions among voters in Zagreb. But inflation and the economy are not topics that have forced citizens to rise up and circle SDP and Možemo! on the ballot.
The left spent two months on the "Plenković's Inflation" tour and didn't score big points with the public and in polls. It sidelined issues that disturb and mobilize their voters, issues that Plenković, his HDZ, and allies use to intimidate citizens, steering them toward left-liberal political options.
