In Croatia the next presidential election will take place in January 2010. The incumbent is Stjepan “Stipe” Mesić. He was from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), though technically he is non-party. The government is headed by Jadranka Kosor also from the HDZ. The coalition comprises the HDZ, HSS, HSLS, and SDSS.
Opinion polls vary, but a Puls poll for Nacional clearly shows that the favourite for the election is Ivo Josipović of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In the poll he scores 32%. He also beats every candidate at the second ballot. If he were to win and the coalition stayed the same, then there would be a period of cohabitation.
The other candidates polled are:
Andrija Hebrang (Croatian Democratic Union/HDZ), 18%
Nadan Vidošević (Head of Chamber of Commerce), 15%
Radimir Čačić (Croatian People’s Party-Liberal Democrats/HNS), 12%
Vesna Pusić (Croatian People’s Party-Liberal Democrats/HNS-LD), 11%
Elements within the ruling HDZ had tried to have Vidošević stand as an HDZ candidate. This may have changed the situation, but, apparently, this will not happen now.