Rooster cry works for Croatian election winners

[December 06, 2011]  ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Cock-a-doodle-doo! It's a wake-up call that worked in the Croatian election.

A center-left coalition with the quirky name Kukuriku -- Croatian for the rooster cry -- triumphed in the country's parliamentary vote on Sunday, crushing the long-ruling conservatives.

"Croatia's wake-up starts now," said coalition leader Zoran Milanovic in his victory speech early Monday.

The moniker was taken from a restaurant with the same name on the Adriatic sea where leaders of the four parties first convened in 2009. It eventually became the coalition's official name, and a call for Croatian voters to wake up.

Some didn't take it seriously at first. Departing Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor ridiculed the opposition and their name, saying once "it's their problem that they slept and dreamt for so long."

[Associated Press]

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