Presidential election in Croatia 2009/10
The 2009/10 presidential election in Croatia took place on December 27, 2009 and January 10, 2010 (runoff). It was Croatia's fifth presidential election .
In the first ballot on December 27, 2009, 4,495,006 eligible voters were called on to elect their third president in Croatian history. The social democratic candidate Ivo Josipović received 32.42% of the vote, the former social democrat and mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić 14.83% of the vote.
The second ballot, in which only Josipović and Bandić stood to vote, Josipović won with just over 60% of the vote.
background
The current Croatian President Stjepan Mesić can no longer run after two five-year terms in office. Mesić was elected president for the first time in 2000 as a joint candidate of the HNS , HSS and IDS . In the presidential election in 2005 he won against the HDZ candidate Jadranka Kosor and was mainly supported by left-wing parties.
Discussions in advance of the candidate list
The parties had already started their campaigns in the summer of 2009 without naming their official candidates. At this point, however, individual candidates announced their interest in the presidency.
Social Democrats - SDP
After the landslide victory of the social democratic candidate Milan Bandić in the municipal elections in Zagreb in May 2009 , his person as a presidential candidate was discussed. Although influential members of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia had asked the party chairman Zoran Milanović to solve the “Bandić problem” before this mayoral election , Bandić was supported by the party executive. Bandić's opponents accused him of corruption and breach of office during his tenure so far in Zagreb and asked Milanović to nominate and support another candidate. On June 20, the Presidium of the Social Democratic Party nominated two of its parliamentarians in the Sabor as official presidential candidates of the SDP: the law professor Ivo Josipović and the economics professor and former economics minister Ljubo Jurčić . Other candidates could also stand, but Bandić declined. Josipović was elected with 64.78% of the vote in the party primaries.
However, the "Bandic problem" escalated when the media speculated about his possible candidacy. They followed Bandić on his campaign tour of Croatia and asked if he would run for president. However, he did not comment on the questions and drew media attention for his indecision. On November 5, 2009, he announced his presidential candidacy on Sljeme and criticized Milanović and his party. He was then expelled from the party and lost his position as chairman of the SDP in Zagreb.
HDZ
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the largest party in the governing coalition at the time, also had problems finding candidates for the presidential election. As early as 2008, the then Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was traded as a presidential candidate, although he denied such speculations several times. After the local elections, speculation became louder because no other HDZ politician made any suggestion of a possible candidacy. On July 1, 2009 , Sanader unexpectedly announced not only not to run for president, but also to step down as prime minister and withdraw from politics.
Sanader proposed Andrija Hebrang junior , son of former Croatian-Yugoslav statesman Andrija Hebrang , as the party's official candidate for the presidential election, a statement that was later supported by the party's presidency. He also named Nadan Vidošević as a possible candidate for the party, but he refused. Hebrang hesitated to accept the party nomination and justified the hesitation with his state of health. Vidošević declared on September 2, 2009 that he wanted to run as an independent candidate and was subsequently expelled from the party. Sanader was not the only member of the cabinet to announce his resignation. Education Minister Dragan Primorac , who is also a member of the HDZ, announced his resignation on the same day as Sanader and announced on November 9, 2009 that he would be running as an independent candidate. He was also expelled from the party.
Candidate list
The elections began on November 4, 2009 when the signature period began. Each candidate had to collect 10,000 signatures from voting Croatian citizens within twelve days. After these twelve days, the State Election Commission announced on November 18, 2009 that twelve candidates could submit the required signatures.
The candidates' election campaign began on November 19 with the announcement of the admitted candidates. The State Electoral Commission stated that twelve candidates were eligible.
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Four of the major parties have nominated official candidates:
- The largest opposition party, the Croatian Social Democratic Party , nominated Ivo Josipović . He is a law professor at the University of Zagreb and a parliamentarian in the Sabor .
- The Croatian Democratic Union nominated Andrija Hebrang , the former vice-president of the Sabor and former health minister.
- The liberal democratic Croatian People's Party nominated Vesna Pusić , the parliamentary committee chairwoman for the negotiations for Croatia's accession to the European Union.
- The left-liberal Istrian Democratic Assembly nominated Damir Kajin , their representative in the Sabor.
Three independent candidates were expelled from their parties for running:
- Nadan Vidošević , President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, former member of the HDZ
- Milan Bandić , Mayor of Zagreb , former member of the SDP
- Dragan Primorac , former Minister of Education and former member of the HDZ
Other candidates had relationships with the major parties:
- Vesna Škare Ožbolt , former Minister of Justice, moved from HDZ to DC (Demokratski centar) in 2000
- Miroslav Tuđman , former head of the intelligence service, was a member of the HDZ in the 1990s
Other candidates unrelated to the major parties:
- Josip Jurčević , independent candidate with a right-wing extremist platform
- Boris Mikšić , independent candidate with a right-wing populist history
- Slavko Vukšić , candidate of the Democrats stranke slavonske ravnice
The candidate of the Serbian Democratic Forum, Veljko Đakula , was supported by the Serbian People's Party, the Democratic Party of Serbs and the New Serbia Party. He received 10,557 signatures, but withdrew his candidacy on November 17, 2009.
The candidate Dejan Golubić , like Veljko Đakula, withdrew from the candidacy before its validity was officially confirmed by the State Electoral Commission.
All parties have the principle that they will only support one candidate and that members running as independents will be expelled from the party. According to the Croatian Constitution, the President cannot be a member of a political party, so the President must give up all his party membership after the election.
choice
First ballot
The first ballot took place on December 27, 2009. In total, almost 44 percent of the approximately 4.5 million eligible voters cast their votes. The candidate of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) , Ivo Josipović , did best with 32.42 percent. Former Social Democrat and Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić achieved 14.83 percent. The candidate of the ruling HDZ , Andrija Hebrang , received 12.04 percent of the vote.
Josipović received the largest share of the vote in 18 of the 20 counties and in the city of Zagreb , Hebrang in Lika-Senj County , the candidate of the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) , Damir Kajin , in Istria County , and Bandić among Croatian nationals outside Croatia .
Since no candidate had achieved an absolute majority in the first ballot, the two best-placed candidates Josipović and Bandić face each other in the runoff election on January 10, 2010.
| Result of the first ballot | |||
| Eligible voters: | 4,495,233 | ||
| Ballot papers submitted: | 1,975,909 | 43.96% | |
| Valid votes | 1,954,441 | 98.94% | |
| Invalid votes | 20,890 | 1.06% | |
| candidate | Political party | be right | percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivo Josipović | SDP | 640,594 | 32.42% |
| Milan Bandic | independent | 293,068 | 14.83% |
| Andrija Hebrang | HDZ | 237.998 | 12.04% |
| Nadan Vidosevic | independent | 223,892 | 11.33% |
| Vesna Pusić | HNS | 143.190 | 7.25% |
| Dragan Primorac | independent | 117.154 | 5.93% |
| Miroslav Tuđman | independent | 80.784 | 4.09% |
| Damir Kajin | IDS | 76,411 | 3.87% |
| Josip Jurčević | independent | 54,177 | 2.74% |
| Boris Mikšić | independent | 41,491 | 2.10% |
| Vesna Škare Ožbolt | independent | 37,373 | 1.89% |
| Slavko Vukšić | DSSR | 8,309 | 0.42% |
Second ballot
In the second ballot on January 10, 2010, the turnout was just over 50 percent, slightly higher than in the first ballot. Ivo Josipović clearly won the runoff election with 60.26% of the valid votes. He won a majority in 19 of the 20 counties and in the city of Zagreb , while Milan Bandić received the most votes only in Lika-Senj County and among Croatian nationals outside Croatia. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bandić won 94.28% of the vote, in Austria 92% and in Germany still 87.4%. Bandić received the fewest votes in Istria (16.63%).
| Result of the second ballot | |||
| Eligible voters | 4,495,528 | ||
| Ballot papers submitted | 2,253,154 | 50.12% | |
| Valid votes | 2,222,607 | 98.64% | |
| Invalid votes | 30,547 | 1.36% | |
| candidate | Political party | be right | percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivo Josipović | SDP | 1,339,385 | 60.26% |
| Milan Bandic | independent | 883.222 | 39.74% |
Individual evidence
- ↑ hrt.hr: Hrvatska bira trećeg predsjednika ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated December 27, 2009.
- ↑ a b c Državno izborno povjerenstvo Republike Hrvatske: Potpuni službeni rezultati izbora za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske; ( Memento of the original from November 24, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Državno izborno povjerenstvo Republike Hrvatske: Priopćenje o potpunim službenim rezultatima izbora za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske, ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. December 28, 2009 (pdf; 37 kB).
- ↑ http://www.tagesschau.de:80/ausland/stichwahlkroatien104.html ( Memento from January 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ javno.info: Milanović: Došao sam kao podrška ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ national.hr: Bandic and Milanovic Fighting It Out for Zagreb
- ↑ rtl.hr: Jurčić ili Josipović?
- ↑ javno.com: Ivo Josipovic Is SDP Party Presidential Candidate ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated July 13, 2009.
- ↑ tportal.hr: Bandić malo hoće pa neće u predsjedničku utrku ( memento of the original from August 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Croatian for "Bandić will sometimes and then again not"), from September 11, 2009.
- ↑ javno.com: Kao Feniks se dižem i kandidiram ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated November 5, 2009.
- ↑ vecernji.hr: Bandić izbačen iz SDP-a; na Sljemenu objavio kandidaturu of November 5, 2009.
- ↑ nacional.hr: Bitka za predsjednika u trolistu Sanader-Čačić-Jurčić? dated March 2, 2009.
- ^ Reuters.com: Croatia's PM Sanader Resigns, Quits Politics, July 1, 2009.
- ↑ index.hr: Vidošević za Index: U predsjedničku utrku idem jedino kao nezavisni candidate! dated July 24, 2009.
- ↑ slobodnadalmacija.hr: Andrija Hebrang zdrav i spreman za predsjedničku utrku ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated July 27, 2009.
- ↑ r-1.hr: Nadan Vidošević izbačen iz HDZ-a ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from September 2, 2009.
- ↑ index.hr: Dragan Primorac krenuo u predsjedničku utrku za Pantovčak dated November 11, 2009.
- ↑ vecernji.hr: U utrku za Pantovčak ide 13 predsjedničkih kandidata
- ↑ vjesnik.com: http://ns1.vjesnik.com/Html/2005/01/05/Clanak.asp?r=sta&c=1 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically defective marked. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated January 5, 2005.
- ↑ 12 kandidata za Pantovčak (Deutsche Welle, November 18, 2009).
- ↑ Državno izborno povjerenstvo Republike Hrvatske: Potpuni službeni rezultati izbora za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske ( Memento of the original from December 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Overview by location).
- ↑ a b Državno izborno povjerenstvo Republike Hrvatske: Potpuni službeni rezultati izbora za predsjednika republike Hrvatske 10. siječnja 2010. (drugi krug) ( Memento of the original from November 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has not been checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Državno izborno povjerenstvo Republike Hrvatske: Službeni nepotpuni rezultati izbora za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske - 2nd mug ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Overview by location)
