"If I were in Zagreb now, I would proclaim the election victory by the HDZ and our coalition partners, primarily the HSS (the Croatian Peasant Party), the HSU (Pensioners' Party) and others as well as representatives of (ethnic) minorities," Sanader told Croatian reporters in the Croatian permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.
Asked about the defeat of HDZ mayoral candidates in Vukovar and Dubrovnik, where HDZ members were mayors until now, Sanader said "the HDZ would have liked to have won both in Vukovar and Dubrovnik" and highlighted the HDZ victory in Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
Asked by reporters about a possibility of the HDZ making a coalition with Zeljko Kerum, a businessman who won the mayoral post in Split as an independent candidate, Sanader did not rule this out, adding that the HDZ branch would decide on the new authorities in Split, Croatia's second largest city.
Sanader said the results of the local elections, the first round of which was held on 17 May and the second on 31 May, showed that the ruling coalition led by his HDZ justified the trust the electorate showed in it in the last parliamentary elections.
Later on Monday in New York, Sanader will meet European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and the US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.