Ivo Baldasar is a Croatian politician and current 71st Mayor of Split.
Education
On 9 May 2014 Baldasar attended the ceremony of revealing the monument to the 9th Battalion "Rafael Boban" of the Croatian Defence Forces (Hrvatske obrambene snage – HOS) that participated in the defense of Croatian during the Croatian War of Independence.
Career
Baldasar spent his early career working as a lawyer within the tourism industry, concentrating mainly on maritime business. He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1998, and in 2009 became a city councilor for the city of Split. His presence was criticised because of the Ustaše inspired symbolism used by the HOS, including naming their unit after Rafael Boban who commanded the Black Legion, dressing in black uniforms and using the Za dom spremni motto.
Some news reports suggested that after the commander of the Battalion ended his speech with Za dom spremni, the gathered crowd clapped, with Baldasar allegedly, reluctantly doing the same.
This was denied by Baldasar himself explaining he didn"t hear anything and that he had an agreement with the organizers that such things wouldn"t happen during the ceremony. He concluded that his actions were an attempt overcoming historical differences and that he would do it again.
Ahead of 2013 referendum for changing constitution so it would define marriage as being a union between a man and a woman, Baldasar urged people to vote against proposed change.
Politics
In 2012 he became the party"s candidate for mayor of the city, winning the second round of elections over Vjekoslav Ivanišević to become the 75th mayor of Split. He later defended his actions explaining that the members of HOS were anti-fascists in a way, because they fought against a new form of fascism during the Croatian War of Independence.
Membership
He is a member of the Social Democratic Party (Social Democratic Party).