Today, presidential elections will be held in Croatia.
Eight people are fighting for the post of head of state: the two favorites are current President Zoran Milanović, who was elected to this post for the first time in the second round of the presidential elections held on January 5, 2020, and his main political rival, independent candidate Dragan Primorac, who is a pediatrician and specialist in the field of medical genetics.
He is supported by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union party.
The representative of the political party "Most" Miro Bul, the mayor of the city of Sinj, Tomislav Jonić - an independent candidate, Ivana Kekin - leader of the left-wing political party "Mojemo!", Branka Lozo - deputy chairman of the political party "DOMiNO", Marija Selak Raspudić - an independent candidate and Niko Tokić Kartelo - an independent candidate.
According to the latest opinion polls, Croats prefer the current president Zoran Milanović, who is confidently leading with a result of 39.3%. For his main rival Primorac, 24.3% of respondents are ready to vote. In third place is Raspudić, who received the support of 10% of respondents, the level of trust in Kekin has decreased from 9% at the beginning of the month to 8%. Bule retains the support of 3.8% of voters. Of the remaining three candidates, only Lozo crossed the 2% barrier.
Milanović and Primorac are expected to go to a runoff, which could take place in 14 days. The predictions are that in the second round, the majority of Kekin's voters, as well as at least half of his supporters, will vote for Milanović, while the votes supporting Bul will most likely go to Primorac.
3,762,224 citizens are eligible to vote in these elections, of which almost 250,000 will be able to vote abroad. Croatians will be able to vote in 6,755 polling stations, 105 of which will be opened outside the country. There has been a significant decrease in the number of observers of the election procedure. About 13,400 observers will monitor Sunday's elections, almost half the number registered five years ago, when a record 24,270 were registered.
Polling stations will open across the country at 07:00 and close at 19:00. The State Election Commission will publish the first preliminary election results on its website on December 29 at 20:00.
According to the 1990 constitution, Croatia is a parliamentary republic. The powers of the head of state in this country are limited, but they are not purely representative. After consultation with parliament, the president appoints the prime minister and the composition of the government. Together with the government, the head of state participates in the formation and implementation of foreign policy and defense strategy, supervises the work of the security services, and makes decisions on the establishment of diplomatic relations. The President is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and has the right to appoint the command staff of the armed forces. The head of state cannot be a member of any party. The term of office is five years with the right to be re-elected once.
The President is elected by direct universal suffrage. Candidates for this position must be Croatian citizens at least 18 years of age. They can run as party or independent candidates. For nomination, it is necessary to collect at least 10 thousand signatures of voters. To win in the first round, more than 50% of the votes must be received. If necessary, a second round will be held after 14 days between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round. Citizens of the country who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote.