2009-05-17 09:41:01 -

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - Croatians began voting in local elections Sunday that are considered a midterm barometer of the ruling party's popularity.
Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's conservative Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, has faced a series of blows since winning its second term in November 2007 _ from the effects of the global recession to the deadlocked bid to join the EU.
There are about 4 million eligible voters who will select mayors, governors and local governments in 22 counties, 126 cities and 429 municipalities.
Political analyst Davor Butkovic believes the vote could be a fairly precise forecast of who will win the next parliamentary elections in two years.
Polls have suggested that HDZ will fail to seize control of Zagreb _ home to a quarter of Croatia's 4.5 million population _ now run by the Social Democrats, or SDP. The party could also lose in Split, the second-largest city.
Both parties are being challenged this time by independent candidates, propelled into the campaign by a new law stipulating direct election of mayors and governors. Previously, victorious Croatian parties would fill the posts.
Parties still compete for control of city, county and municipal governments.
A professor of law and anti-corruption fighter, Milan Kregar, is competing against SDP mayor Milan Bandic in Zagreb. In Split, tycoon Zeljko Kerum, is challenging to become mayor.
Their potential success would signal that Croatians are fed up with the political establishment and the everlasting fight for power between HDZ and SDP.

Croatia's gross domestic product could contract by up to 3 percent this year. The jobless rate is 14 percent and rising. Parliament already revised the budget, and public service workers' wages are frozen.
Meanwhile, the government's the quest to join the EU by 2011 is at a standstill as neighboring Slovenia blocks its bid because of a border dispute. Croatia was admitted to NATO last month.