Presidential elections were held in Croatia in January 2005, the fourth such elections since independence in 1991. They were the first presidential elections held after the constitutional changes of November 2000, which replaced a semi-presidential system with an incomplete parliamentary system, greatly reducing the powers of the President in favor of the Prime Minister and their cabinet. Incumbent presidentStjepan Mesić, who had been elected in 2000 as the candidate of the Croatian People's Party, was eligible to seek reelection to a second term and ran as an independent as the constitution prohibits the President from holding party membership while in office. The elections resulted in the landslide re-election of Mesić for a second five-year term. They were also the first in which a woman, HDZ candidate Jadranka Kosor, took part in the runoff. The percentage of the vote received by Mesić in the second round – 65.93% – is the highest of any president to date. Mesić had received an absolute majority of the votes cast within Croatia itself in the first round, but the votes of Croatian citizens living abroad forced a run-off by reducing Mesić's overall percentage to just under the necessary 50% + 1 vote threshold needed to win in the first round. Voter turnout was 50.57% in the first round and 51.04% in the second round. Mesić was sworn in for a second term on 18 February 2005 by the Chief justice of the Constitutional Court.
Background
The Croatian State Elections Committee published a list of potential candidates on 15 December 2004. President Stjepan Mesić stood for re-election, and the governing HDZ nominated cabinet minister Jadranka Kosor. A total of thirteen candidates were accepted, each after having submitted 10,000 citizen signatures, an endorsement required by law. Mesić won a landslide victory gaining nearly 49% of the vote in the first round, held on 2 January 2005. He only narrowly missed the 50% target for an outright win, with Kosor trailing with 20% and a surprising independent candidate Boris Mikšić with 18% of the vote. The elections went to a second round held on 16 January 2005 in which Mesić and Kosor were the only candidates. This time, Mesić won an overwhelming majority with about 66% of the vote against Kosor's 34%.
Results
Analysis
Most polls before the first round were predicting the incumbent president Stjepan Mesić would be reelected without a runoff, securing 50% + 1 vote. However, Jadranka Kosor benefited from the votes coming from the citizens living abroad, which narrowed the president's victory by only a couple of points, but enough to secure a second round. The greatest surprise of the election was the independent candidate Boris Mikšić, a Croatian businessman and entrepreneur living in the United States. His campaign was heavily based on the message of a 'Croatian dream', similar to the American dream he said he achieved during his career in the US. On the night of the election, the first exit polls indicated president Mesić might secure a second term without the need of a runoff, while Kosor and Mikšić were shown battling for second place. As the first results started coming in it was evident that Mesić was not going to secure 50% + 1 vote and that a runoff is inevitable. As votes from the citizens living abroad were tallied, Kosor overtook Mikšić, placing second and qualifying for the second round. The campaign began immediately the next day and during the two-week-long campaign, three presidential debates were held, one on each of Croatia's three major television networks. Despite most observers and post debate polls indicating Kosor won the debates, Mesić maintained his lead in the polls. As Election Day neared, the Kosor campaign exceeded all previous campaign spending records, trying to motivate the conservative base. On Election Day, as polls around the country closed at 7 pm, all television networks announced Mesić won a landslide victory based on the exit polls, which official results later confirmed. Kosor conceded and congratulated Mesić on his victory. After the elections, Boris Mikšić claimed the elections were fraud and that Mesić and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader made a deal of "bringing" Kosor in the second round. He claimed to have received 15,000 election ballots with serial numbers that were not evidented.
