Milan Bandić
Croatian politician (1955–2021) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Milan Bandić (22 November 1955 – 28 February 2021) was a Croatian politician and the longest-serving mayor of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Bandić was mayor almost continuously from 2000 to 2021, except during the time between his resignation in 2002 and the 2005 election. He was also suspended from exercising his powers and duties for several months after his 2014 arrest over a corruption scandal. Out of Bandić's multifaceted engagement in politics, the most noted part was his mayoralty of Zagreb, which followed the Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) first post-socialist period of government (1990–2000), and exacerbated many existing transitional problems in the city.
Milan Bandić | |
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50th and 52nd Mayor of Zagreb | |
In office 14 June 2005 – 28 February 2021 Powers and duties suspended: 21 November 2014 – 9 March 2015 | |
Preceded by | Vlasta Pavić |
Succeeded by | Jelena Pavičić Vukičević (Acting) Tomislav Tomašević |
In office 2 June 2000 – 1 March 2002 | |
Preceded by | Marina Matulović-Dropulić |
Succeeded by | Vlasta Pavić |
Deputy Mayor of Zagreb for Social Services | |
In office 4 April 2002 – 14 June 2005 Serving with Stipe Tojčić | |
Mayor | Vlasta Pavić |
Preceded by | Morana Paliković-Gruden Vlasta Pavić |
Succeeded by | Ivo Jelušić Ljiljana Kuhta Jeličić |
President of the Bandić Milan 365 – Labour and Solidarity Party | |
In office 28 March 2015 – 28 February 2021 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Jelena Pavičić Vukičević (Acting) Slavko Kojić |
Personal details | |
Born | (1955-11-22)22 November 1955 Grude, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia |
Died | 28 February 2021(2021-02-28) (aged 65) Zagreb, Croatia |
Political party | SKH (1980–1990) SDP (1990–2009) BM 365 (2015–2021) |
Spouses | |
Parents |
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Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
Occupation | Politician |
Profession | Teacher |
Born in the Herzegovinian town of Grude, Bandić moved to Zagreb to study to become a teacher of Marxism and Defence and Protection at the University of Zagreb. Starting in the early 1980s, he rose through the ranks of the League of Communists of Croatia and its post-1990 successor, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), becoming a city councillor in 1995 and president of the SDP's Zagreb branch in 1997. Following the 1995–97 Zagreb crisis, he led the opposition against the imposed HDZ administration led by Mayor Marina Matulović Dropulić. Forcing snap elections in 2000, following the fall of the national HDZ government, Bandić ran for mayor with the SDP and won a plurality with 20% of the vote. He would go on to serve five more terms. In 2009, he was expelled from the SDP for running for Croatian president in the 2009–10 election, where he ran against and lost the second round to the SDP's chosen candidate, Ivo Josipović. In 2015, he formed a new party, Bandić Milan 365 – Labour and Solidarity Party, and entered into a coalition with the HDZ. His mayoralty was fraught with scandals and interrupted twice. First time was from 2002 to 2005 when he was caught fleeing the scene of an accident he caused while drunk driving and threatening the police officer who caught him; he resigned and was kept on as deputy mayor for social services under Acting Mayor Vlasta Pavić. The second time was in 2014–15 due to prosecution in the Agram affair which was still ongoing at the time of his death. Bandić remained mayor throughout the events, but was temporarily forbidden from exercising his mayoral duties and powers, and appointed Sandra Švaljek and later Vesna Kusin as acting mayors before fully assuming his duties. Some of the scandals led to convictions of high-ranking city officials, but Bandić himself was never convicted of a felony, though he was fined for conflicts of interest.
Bandić ruled the city in a direct and highly centralised manner, devolving few to no powers to elected officials beneath him, and maintaining much control over the city during the periods when he was not in office. His politics was populist, primarily seeking support from the poor, while trying to appeal to the rest of the citizens by announcing numerous capital infrastructure projects. A few projects were realised in the mid-2000s, such as Lake Bundek renovation, construction of Arena Zagreb and Zagreb Avenue widening, as well as the long-awaited late-2010s construction of an underpass under Remetinec Roundabout. Many more were repeatedly announced but never completed, e.g. reconstruction of the Sljeme cable car, a spa in Blato, completing the long-awaited Blato University Hospital, a congress centre, and reconstructing the Maksimir Stadium.[2][3][4] Public transport was not improved beyond renewing the tram rolling stock. Bandić's era saw an unprecedented 20 years go by without the construction of new tram lines, despite his many announcements of tram network expansions.
Bandić died of an alleged heart attack in early 2021, two months before the regular local elections, having held office for 17 years and 165 days. He was succeeded in his roles of mayor and BM 365 president by his deputy, now acting mayor, Jelena Pavičić Vukičević. His legacy remained controversial due to numerous nepotism and clientelism scandals – which involved many of his associates, including his successor Pavičić Vukičević – budget deficit and soon to mature bonds, and the slow and expensive recovery from the heavily damaging 2020 earthquakes. During his mayoralty, Bandić was bestowed with several honours including honorary citizenship of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and membership in the Brethren of the Croatian Dragon.