Croatia votes in presidential run–off

Zagreb, January 11:  Croatians on Sunday voted to elect their next president from incumbent Ivo Josipovic and challenger Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, a candidate from the largest opposition party Croatian Democratic Union, in a run–off race. In the neck–and–neck first round on December 28, 2014, Josipovic won 38.46 percent of the vote while Kitarovic got 37.22 percent. Latest polls showed that Josipovic was supported by 46.5 percent of the voters while Kitarovic was estimated to win 34.9 percent of the vote. Some 3.8 million electors were eligible to vote at 6,352 polling stations, which opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. The State Election Commission will release the prelimiry results at 8 p.m. Josipovic, 57, a former law professor and composer, is supported by 19 parties while former Croatian foreign minister Kitarovic, 46, is supported by eight parties.  (IANS)