Crnic also criticised the non-governmental election monitoring organisation GONG for announcing projections before the electioneering ban expired, and said that the national television network HRT behaved "unfairly and inappropriately" when it marginalised an official press conference at midnight by the State Election Commission as the only body with relevant information about the election.
Citing returns from 99.73 per cent of polling stations by 1130 hours on Monday, Crnic said that the incumbent president Stjepan Mesic won 48.92 per cent of votes, while the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Jadranka Kosor, gained 20.30 per cent.
The next president will be elected in a runoff in two weeks' time since none of the 13 candidates managed to win 50 percent plus one vote.