At the primaries held on Sunday, 19,505 of a total of 34,075 SDP members cast their votes, which means the turnout was 57.24 percent, SDP Secretary-General Igor Dragovan said at a news conference in Zagreb on Monday.
"The SDP demonstrated strength, openness and democratic qualities yesterday," said Dragovan, who was also the head of the commission in charge of organising the SDP primary elections.
He added that in this way the Social Democrats had again raised the level of democracy in Croatia as the SDP was the first party to hold primary elections for the party's presidential candidate in the country.
The winner, Josipovic, said today that he was honoured to "take part in this democratic step forward" and that he was happy to see a high turnout at yesterday's elections.
Josipovic said that he would offer his "New Justness" project as a way out of the crisis and a possibility for justness and democracy in the country.
He said that he expected his rivals in the presidential race to show fairness as Ljubo Juricic did and called him to join his team for the forthcoming presidential elections.
A university professor, Josipovic was born in Zagreb in 1957. He graduated from University of Zagreb Law School, where he also earned his Phd, and at the Zagreb Musical Academy. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Zagreb, and is a lecturer at the Zagreb Musical Academy as well.
He is also a member of the Croatian Parliament.