President Ivo Josipovic considers an idea of Croatian parliament electing the head of state to be bad, as he believes it may undermine the division among the branches of government and their mutual control.
This may put at risk the stability in the division of branches of power, President Josipovic said in an interview to the national broadcaster (HRT) when asked whether he was surprised by speculations that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is mulling the option of the election of the president in the national parliament
Each country needs an office-holder who is directly elected, "and in our political culture it means much for the political life of Croatia," Josipovic said in his interview published on Sunday, on the occasion of the third anniversary of his inauguration.
He said that 94% of Croatians, polled in a survey, were in favour of the direct election of the country's president,
Asked about how he assessed the performance of the cabinet of SDP Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, Josipovic said that the wanted reforms were still lacking.
However, significant headway has been made in fiscal stability as well as in orderly tax collection, Josipovic said.
He also assessed positively the proposed bill on strategic investments.
Asked when it would be ideal to hold the first elections in Croatia for its representatives to the European Parliament, the head of state said that he would call that election in line with the law and in accordance with the prevailing opinions on the political and nongovernmental scenes.
