Croatia: presidential election goes to runoff

A leftist opposition legal scholar will face off against Zagreb's maverick mayor in Croatia's presidential runoff, the state-run Electoral Commission said Monday.

The ruling conservative party candidate failed to reach the Jan. 10 runoff in Sunday's vote - a sign that Croatians aren't satified with the government's stumbling efforts to curb economic decline and high-level corruption.

The Social Democrat lawmaker Ivo Josipovic garnered 32.4 percent of votes and Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic - who ran as an independent candidate - got 14.8 percent of the votes, complete results showed. A 50-percent support was required for outright victory.

Both candidates are considered pro-Western and will likely support the ex-Yugoslav country's efforts to win entry into the European Union, possibly in 2011 or 2012.

Both Josipovic and Bandic are linked to the Social Democrats - Bandic, a popular mayor of the capital since 2000, was kicked out of the party when he decided to run against Josipovic. But, they have very different styles.

Josipovic, 52, is well educated and preaches honesty and justice. Bandic, 54, a populist whose stand shifts across the political spectrum, is believed to manoeuvre around regulations to get the job done. He has repeatedly been accused of cronyism and nepotism; he doesn't speak English and hasn't showed much knowledge or interest in foreign affairs.

Though the president's power is largely ceremonial and the Cabinet and parliament are the key decision-makers, the president is the army's supreme commander and has strong influence over foreign policy. The post also commands moral authority.

The results showed that "justice has won," Josipovic said after the vote.

A professor of international law at the Zagreb Law Faculty and lawmaker since 2003, Josipovic has a largely untainted resume, but even his supporters acknowledge that he lacks charisma.

Bandic said the result showed that Croatia "needs a different president, who won't be affected by any party's policies."

He is adored by some, but fiercely criticized by others. He allowed a nationalist singer to perform at the Zagreb's main square, dismaying many residents, but has also supported gay pride parades, unnerving conservatives.
 
Bandic also has a more check red past than his staid rival.

In 2002, he fled police after being caught driving drunk. Local media claim he regularly fixes bids for city work projects, funnelling jobs to his aides and overpaying them. He denies the charges, pointing out there has been no formal investigation launched against him.

Davor Gjenero, an independent political analyst, said if Bandic were to win it would be "a shame" for Croatia."

"We would get someone completely incapable of acting in foreign policy," he said.