Presidential poll in Croatia due on 27 December
Fri 6 Nov 2009
Presidential elections in Croatia will be held on 27 December. The cabinet decided this during its session on 30 October. If a run-off is required, it will be held on 10 January. The decision sets potential candidates in motion, beginning 12 days allotted them to collect signatures from their backers. Authorities then have two days to verify those signatures before formal campaigning begins. Incumbent President Stipe Mesic is wrapping up his second term and cannot seek re-election.
The pre-election campaign for the poll formally begun on 4 November. The next day Ivo Josipović, presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), started his pre-election campaign by collecting signatures for his candidacy on the Bane Jelačić square in Zagreb. According to polls, Josipović has the most chance of becoming the next President of Croatia.
Current President Mesic (74) won the past two elections, in 2000 and 2005, and cannot run again. Before that, he had served as a member of the former Yugoslavia's presidency. After Croatia split from the federation in 1991, he became the new country's Parliamentary speaker and PM.
To run, a candidate must collect 15,000 signatures in Croatia, a country of 4.5 million inhabitants.
Sources: SETimes; portal SDP
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