Ivo Josipovic, the candidate from the centre-left opposition Social Democrat Party has won Croatia's presidential elections with 60.29 per cent of vote in the second election round on Sunday (10 January 2010), according to preliminary official results released by the State Electoral Commission (DIP) at midnight.

His rival, independent candidate Milan Bandic, received 39.71 per cent vote (881,939), DIP chairman Branko Hrvatin said at a press conference, adding that the findings were based on the processing of the returns from 6848 polling stations out of a total of 6863.

The turnout was 50.28 per cent and 98.64 per cent of ballots were valid. Josipovic won in all Croatian counties except Lika-Senj, with the highest margin in Istria ((83.37 per cent). Bandic won 51.94 per cent in Lika-Senj County. In the City of Zagreb, Josipovic garnered 62.19 per cent and Bandic 37.81 per cent. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, where nearly 100,000 voters went to the polls, or 36.65 per cent, Bandic mustered 94.28 per cent according to DIP preliminary and incomplete results.

Although the post is largely ceremonial, one of the main tasks ahead of the new president will be helping to steer Croatia successfully into the EU. The 52-year-old law professor and composer has pledged to support the government's efforts to complete European Union membership talks this year and to fight the corruption in the country.

This was the fifth presidential election since Croatia gained independence. Franjo Tudjman was elected president in 1992 and 1997, while the outgoing President Stjepan Mesic was elected in 2000 and 2005.