 She served in that position until President Franjo Tuđman appointed her as Mayor of Zagreb in December 1996.Tuđman, however, had already appointed her as mayor on 2 March 1996, but the city council had refused to endorse such a move.Namely, before the appointment of Matulović-Dropulić herself, Tuđman had already refused to endorse two candidates elected to the mayorship by the city council