ZAGREB, Feb 6 (Hina) - Ahead of Croatia's presidential run-off, scheduled for Monday, February 7, the ban on electioneering came in force at Saturday midnight and will last until Monday midnight when first unofficial results are
expected to be announced.
ZAGREB, Feb 6 (Hina) - Ahead of Croatia's presidential run-off,
scheduled for Monday, February 7, the ban on electioneering came in
force at Saturday midnight and will last until Monday midnight when
first unofficial results are expected to be announced.#L#
Two candidates contest the second round of the presidential ballot:
Drazen Budisa of the Social Democratic Party/Croatian Social
Liberal Party (SDP/HSLS) coalition and Stipe Mesic of the Croatian
People's Party (HNS).
During the media blackout any assessment or forecast of the
election's results must not be made public, the contestants are not
allowed to give interviews or public statements neither can their
photos be shown in the media.
On Monday, about 4.2 million Croats have the right to elect their
second President since Croatia's independence. A total of 7,038
polling stations will be set up in Croatia and abroad. In Croatia
about 6,900 polling stations will be open from 07.00 am to 07.00 pm
Monday and at them some 43,700 members in polling committees and
commissions will help conduct the voting.
In addition, 48 countries have consented to the organisation of
Croatia's presidential election on their territory. In those 48
states, Croatians can go to 141 polls.
The campaigning for the presidential run-off lasted 15 days and
started on 25 January immediately after the first round of the
voting on 24 January.
Even nine candidates run in the first round of the election. Besides
Mesic and Budisa who won most of the vote, other seven candidates
were Mate Granic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Slaven
Letica who was an independent candidate, Ante Djapic of the
Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), another independent candidate Ante
Ledic, Tomislav Mercep of the Croatian Popular Party (HPS), Ante
Prkacin of the new Croatia (NH), and independent candidate Zvonimir
Separovic.
Since the beginning of this year, Croatians have gone to the polls
twice and on Monday they will go for the third time. On January 3 the
parliamentary election was held, on 24 January the first round of
the presidential ballot was organised while on Monday Croatians are
to elect their President in the second round of the presidential
election. All days of the elections were called on Mondays and they
have been non-working days.
This is the third direct election for the President of the Republic
since Croatia gained independence. The late President Franjo
Tudjman won both the first presidential ballot in 1992 and the
second ballot in 1997. He mustered a majority of the vote (over 50
percent of cast ballots) both in 1992 and 1997 in the first round of
the election. Tudjman passed away on 10 December 1999, two and a
half years before the end of his second presidential five-year
tenure.
(hina) ms