Racan said the number of those who would manage to collect the sufficient number of signatures to be able to run in the January 2 polls was relatively high, but that "the real candidates are very few" and as far as he was concerned there was only one -- Mesic.
Pusic said that one main candidate and one auxiliary candidate would run in the presidential election, while the rest were part of the political folklore.
Asked if the ballot would be a test for the coalition of left-wing parties supporting Mesic, Pusic said the gathering of centre and centre-left parties around Mesic's political project would contribute to better mutual cooperation.
Former Prime Minister Racan was asked by the press to comment on the clash between Mesic and incumbent PM Ivo Sanader in connection with the work of the Counterintelligence Agency (POS). Racan said that problems arose due to a lack of timely communication, which he added was the fault of the executive authority.
"That's why I supported President Mesic's move since the prime minister and the executive authority didn't. The executive authority refused to see the problem and swept it under the carpet, which prompted the president of the republic to react," said Racan.
He maintains that another scandal would have been averted had the executive authority reacted on time, or had it been established that POA agents should be disciplined over their interrogation of reporter Helena Puljiz.
Racan said it was necessary to establish who was responsible for the lack of communication in dealing with anomalies in the work of secret services.
Asked whether he would countersign Mesic's decision on the dismissal of the POA chief if he were the PM, Racan answered in the affirmative, saying that Sanader, who has refused to do so, would probably change his mind because he lost a lot of time and credibility in this case.