ZAGREB, December 4, 2019 – The Croatian State Election Commission received 12 candidate petitions for the December 22 presidential election by the deadline of midnight on Tuesday, but one of them has been found not to be backed up by the required 10,000 signatures.
“One petition does not have signatures, but was filed anyway because it was submitted on a proper form,” the deputy head of the State Election Commission, Vesna Fabijančić Križanić, told a press conference after the expiry of the deadline for submission of candidacies at midnight.
The names of the candidates will be announced on the Commission’s website on Thursday, when the election campaign will formally start. Campaigning will be allowed until midnight on December 20.
The candidates will be required to submit their initial financial reports seven days before election day, accounting for all the donations, costs and media advertising discounts.
Among the potential candidates are three women: the incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who backed up her candidacy with 232,000 signatures, Workers’ Front candidate Katarina Peović and START leader Dalija Orešković, who was last to hand in her petition, doing so shortly before midnight.
Also running are former Social Democratic Party prime minister Zoran Milanović, singer Miroslav Škoro, former judge and current member of the European Parliament Mislav Kolakušić, economist Dejan Kovač, leader of the right-wing Desno party Anto Đapić, film director Dario Juričan who goes by the name of Milan Bandić, member of the Croatian Parliament Ivan Pernar, leader of the all-Croatian party of speakers of Chakavian, Kajkavian and Shtokavian dialects Nedjeljko Babić, and independent candidate Slobodan Midžić, who presented his petition supported by his own signature only.
More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.
