ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s Constitutional Court on Friday banned President Zoran Milanović from becoming prime minister in case his center-left party manages to garner a majority after this week’s highly contested parliamentary election.
The ballot on Wednesday ended inconclusively. The governing center-right Croatian Democratic Union won the most votes but not enough to rule alone. Although it finished second, Milanović's Social Democratic Party is also trying to muster a coalition in the 151-member parliament.
Milanović made a surprise announcement that he would run for prime minister just hours after calling the election for April 17. The Constitutional Court later warned him that he had to resign first, a warning that he ignored.
“The Constitutional Court established that with his statements and behavior the president ... brought himself in the position that he can neither be the prime minister-designate of the future government nor the future prime minister,” said the ruling.
Start of Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial is delayed a week to mid
Department of Conservation set to lose scientific expertise in job cuts
IDB, Brazil’s Central Bank sign agreement to support green investments
Northland teenager dies in crash while driving to work
Man United overhaul under Ratcliffe extends to new technical director
Deadly crash in Bell being investigated as a homicide
Crash snarls Auckland Harbour Bridge traffic
General specialist surgery trainees' job prospects appear faint, surgeons say
Survival expert reveals what to do if you fall OVERBOARD on a cruise ship
Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Israeli airstrike