Incumbent Milanovic to win Croatia’s presidential election: Early results
Al Jazeera
Zoran Milanovic, the opposition Social Democrats’ candidate, on track to win a second term in office, according to preliminary results.
President Zoran Milanovic is on track to win a second term in office in the first round of Croatia’s presidential election, the State Electoral Commission says.
Preliminary results from Sunday’s voting showed that based on results from nearly 52 percent of polling stations, Milanovic, the opposition Social Democratic Party’s candidate, was winning 50.1 percent of the votes, far ahead of his main challenger, Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), with 22.3 percent.
An exit poll conducted by Ipsos on Sunday also showed Milanovic, 58, was set to win.
About 3.8 million Croats were eligible to vote from among eight candidates. The post of president is mostly ceremonial.
Under Croatia’s electoral system, a candidate must secure at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off. The election will go to a second round on January 12 if none of the candidates wins a majority.
