Croatia’s top court bars President Milanovic from becoming prime minister
Al Jazeera
Constitutional Court says Zoran Milanovic cannot take up PM post because he did not first step down as president.
Croatia’s top court has ruled that President Zoran Milanovic, who had campaigned to become prime minister before this week’s parliamentary elections, may not head the new government.
“The president has been warned in time that he cannot participate in the campaign but that he must [first] resign. Now it is over. He can no longer be a prime minister-designate,” Constitutional Court President Miroslav Separovic said at a news conference on Friday.
“Everyone is obliged to adhere to the constitution and the law,” he added.
Croatia held parliamentary elections on Wednesday, in which the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won the most seats but not enough to form a government alone.
The vote was held after a bitter campaign between longtime political foes – the conservative incumbent, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and the left-wing populist Milanovic.
