Croatia is supposed to have its first presidential primaries. Or, to be more precise, SDP will nominate its presidential candidates based on the ballot of its members. Some pro-SDP commentators are already pushing hype about new race being as exciting as the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Unfortunately, the electoral mechanism might look the same, but the candidates are far from creating a tiniest fraction of excitement created by Obama and Hillary. SDP top legal expert and Zagreb Faculty of Law professor Ivo Josipović - who doesn't have an ounce of charisma enjoys full support of SDP chief Zoran Milanović - is going against Ljubo Jurčić, chief economic expert, profesor of Zagreb School of Economicvs and former candidate for prime minister whose political blunders helped SDP snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at 2007 parliamentary elections.
Needless to say. both of those candidates will win primaries only to face candidate much more formidable, scruples and charismatic than John McCain. The final outcome of their clash with Ivo Sanader is hardly in doubt - there is only question whether SDP will get creamed in first or second round of presidential elections. My guess is that Josipović - who enjoys support of party bureacracy and SDP youth organisation - will provide shorter agony for SDP by losing in first round. Jurčić could snatch second round, but this is as far as he could go.
So, whatever SDP does, Sanader is going to become next Croatian president. His trip to Pantovčak could prevented only by third-party populist candidate. According to chatter in Croatian Facebook groups, popular TV host Denis Latin is contemplating his run. It looks like a long shot, but so did Stipe Mesić's run only few weeks before his election in 2000.
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