ZAGREB: Croatia’s constitutional court said yesterday it would consider President Zoran Milanovi’s candidacy for prime minister in the country’s upcoming elections, after he attracted criticism for not resigning beforehand.
Milanovic, who already served as prime minister from 2011 to 2016, announced on Friday he would run as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in Zagreb, shortly after he set the election date for April 17.
But the 57-year-old said he would not resign from his position as president of the Nato and EU member state for the time being.
His decision not to stand down was criticised by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
“This is in total contradiction with what, according to our Constitution, the President of the Republic should be,” said conservative leader Plenkovic, who is seeking a third term in office.
“At a time when elections are being held in Russia, is this perhaps a question of taking Croatia out of the Western community, out of the EU, out of Nato, out of the partnership with the United States, and sending it into the arms of Russia?” Plenkovic added Friday, at a political rally in the eastern city of Osijek.
Croatia’s constitutional court said it would consider Milanovic’s candidacy on Monday.
SDP leader Pedja Grbin said on Saturday that he saw no “formal or legal impediment” and called on the court to give its opinion.
The move came a year shy of the end of Milanovi’s presidential term in February 2025.
For his part, Milanovi said he was “promising a determined and clean government”.
“There are times… when one must leave his comfort zone,” he said.
Thousands demonstrated during an anti-government rally in the capital Zagreb last month, where protestors called for immediate elections and accused government officials of corruption.
Croatia is also scheduled to hold presidential elections later this year, while there are European parliamentary polls in June. — AFP
