Next Croatian presidential election

Next Croatian presidential election
by 20 January 2020 (1st round)
by 3 February 2020 (2nd round, if necessary)

President before election

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Independent

 Elected President

TBD

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will be eligible to seek re-election. Her term will expire on 18 February 2020.
Croatia
Coat of arms
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Croatia
Constitution

The next elections for the President of Croatia are due to take place by direct popular vote on a date between 21 December 2019 and 20 January 2020, with a second round (if necessary) to take place on a date between 4 January 2020 and 3 February 2020 between the two candidates with the largest number of votes in the first round. Namely, the Constitution of Croatia states that a presidential election must be held no more than 60 days and no less than 30 days before the expiration of the incumbent president's term.[1] They will be the seventh presidential elections since the first direct ones were held in 1992.

Background

The incumbent President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, took office on 19 February 2015 and her term is due to end on 18 February 2020.[2] If Grabar-Kitarović serves out her term in full until that date, the new presidential term will begin on 19 February 2020 and will be due to end on 18 February 2025. However, if she were to permanently vacate the office before the end of her current term (due to death, resignation or removal from office by impeachment), the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, currently Gordan Jandroković, would assume the powers and duties of the presidency as Acting President of the Republic, while an early election would have to take place no later than 60 days from the date of the vacancy occurring (as per Article 97 of the Constitution).[1]

President Grabar-Kitarović will be eligible for re-election to a second (and final) five-year term in this election. Furthermore, Ivo Josipović, her predecessor as president, is also eligible to run for re-election to a second and final term because he lost the 2015 elections after serving only one term from 2010 until 2015. If Grabar-Kitarović were to contest the elections and be defeated or if she were to choose not to run at all, the winner would be sworn in as the fifth President of Croatia since country's independence on 25 June 1991.

Electoral system

The President of Croatia is directly elected by secret ballot to a term of 5 years using a two-round system. The Constitution of Croatia requires that a presidential election be held no sooner than 60 days and no later than 30 days before the expiration of the incumbent president's term. An absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) of all votes cast (including invalid and blank ballots) is required to win in the first round. If no candidate acquires such a majority, a second round is to be held in 14 days time, with the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round taking part. The candidate who acquires the highest number of votes in the second round (a majority of valid cast votes) is declared the winner. If one of the candidates who has won a high enough number of votes to take part in the second round were to abandon his candidacy or die, the candidate with the next highest number of votes in the first round will earn the right to take part in the second round. Furthermore, Croatian presidents may serve a maximum of two 5-year terms in their lifetime (a total of 10 years if both terms are won and served out in full).[1]

Candidates

No candidate has yet formally announced their intention to contest the election as of 8 October 2018, however several potential candidates have been named in the media by at least one source:

Far Right

Right to centre-right


Centre


Left to centre-left

Opinion polling

National election

Date Polling Firm Grabar-Kitarović Milanović Sinčić Petrov Burilović Karamarko Krstičević Reiner Komadina Ostojić Picula Josipović Mrak-Taritaš Others Undecided Lead
03 Feb 2018 Promocija plus 43,5 22 11,9 6,6 — — — — — — — — — 5,9 10,1 21,5
17-18 Jan 2018 IPSOS PULS 41 21 15 12 — — — — — — — — — 5 6 20

HDZ party nomination

Date Polling Firm Grabar-Kitarović Krstičević Burilović Karamarko Reiner No one Someone else Don't know Don't want to say Lead
17-18 Jan 2018 IPSOS PULS 62 15 — — — 1 1 15 6 47

SDP party nomination

Date Polling Firm Picula Milanović Komadina Ostojić No one Someone else Don't know Don't want to say Lead
17-18 Jan 2018 IPSOS PULS 44 36 — — 1 1 12 6 8


See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Važniji propisi Croatian Parliament (in Croatian)
  2. ↑ Kolinda prisegnula za prvu predsjednicu Hrvatske HRT, 15 February 2015 (in Croatian)
  3. 1 2 Karamarko i Milanović ozbiljno razmišljalju o kandidaturi za predsjednika Hrvatske Slobodna Dalmacija, 20 November 2016
  4. 1 2 3 Velika lista potencijalnih predsjedničkih kandidata koji mogu ugroziti Kolindu
  5. 1 2 Istraživanje Dnevnika Nove TV: Da su danas predsjednički izbori, kako bi glasovala Hrvatska? Dnevnik.hr, 28 January 2018
  6. ↑ Uoči konvencije, s utjecajnim SDP-ovcima pričali smo o budućnosti stranke i sljedećim izborima Telegram, 2 December 2016
  7. ↑ PICULA ŽELI BITI PREDSJEDNIK, ILI SDP-a ILI DRŽAVE 'Ako me ne izaberu za šefa SDP-a, spreman sam se kandidirati za predsjednika Republike'
  8. ↑ Tko će se naći u utrci za predsjednika Hrvatske? Kolinda se svađa s Plenkovićem, ali biračima je draga, a evo tko bi mogao biti SDP-ov kandidat'
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.