"In Croatia there is 'a terror by opinion polls' in an attempt to distort the picture of the real state of affairs on the political scene," the leader of the strongest opposition party said in the coastal city of Sibenik on Sunday where he attended a meeting of the local SDP branch.
Asked by reporters to comment on an opinion poll showing that the Croatian People's Party (HNS) would fare better if it ran in the forthcoming elections on its own rather than in a coalition with the SDP, Milanovic said that his party did not release its internal opinion polls, however, all surveys published to date had shown that the SDP was currently the strongest political party in Croatia.
Asked whether the forecasts about better results for the HNS in case of its independent participation in the elections had undermined cooperation among the partners in the opposition coalition, the SDP chief said that this coalition could not be broken when it had a huge margin ahead of all others.
Milanovic said that he expected the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its partners in the ruling coalition to announce a date of the next elections in the next fortnight, as they had promised.
For Milanovic, the ideal time for parliamentary elections would be October, so as to have enough time to form the new executive administration.
He said he did not see any reason for procrastinating the polls until November, which was also warned by Europe.
As for anonymous reports to the police against his associates and relatives, the SDP chief said he slept peacefully.
Asked to comment on poll findings showing that Croatians fear politicians will interfere in court proceedings against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, suspected of embezzlement and bribery, Milanovic said there would be no such fear if the SDP were in power.