"Mesic's statement shows that he has lost control and I am surprised that he has lost it so early, because there is plenty of time before the start of the presidential campaign," Kosor said in a political programme on Zagreb's TV station OTV.
Speaking in a Croatian Radio programme yesterday, President Mesic said that Kosor had never claimed that she had joined the HDZ because she supported its programme, but because she had found a father in the late president Franjo Tudjman, which he said did not carry any weight either with party members or with the voters.
Kosor reiterated in last night's programme that she would conduct an affirmative and tough campaign. Speaking about her work so far, she said that she had been an MP for eight years and never missed any parliamentary session. Speaking about her work as Deputy Prime Minister and Family, Veterans and Inter-generational Solidarity Minister, she mentioned the programmes and bills which she initiated and which the government endorsed, including the latest law on war veterans' rights.
She expressed confidence that Croatia would join the EU in 2007. The HDZ-led government has done a lot as regards Croatia's integration with the EU, although at the beginning of its term many critics claimed that it would lead Croatia back to the Balkans, Kosor said.
In a phone opinion poll, the viewers of the programme were asked to forecast who would win the presidential elections. Jadranka Kosor won the votes of 11,236 viewers, while Mesic won 6,938 votes. This was the first media opinion poll in which Kosor won more votes than the incumbent president.
In a programme on Croatian Television, the viewers were asked if they would go to the polls if the elections were held on January 2 and 60 percent answered in the positive.