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Croatia votes for Tudjman's successor

ZAGREB: Croatia started voting on Monday in a presidential election that looked certain to bury the late Franjo Tudjman's nationalist policies and help end the young country's international isolation.

Charismatic centrist Stipe Mesic has emerged in opinion polls as the surprise favourite to succeed Tudjman, with Liberal leader Drazen Budisa seen as his main challenger in a field of nine candidates.

However, neither appeared on course to win an absolute majority, meaning they will almost certainly have to face each other in a second round run-off on February 7.

First results were not expected much before midnight GMT.

Tudjman, who died on December 10 after a long battle with cancer, led Croatia to independence in 1991 and easily won the country's first two presidential elections.

His authoritarian rule and alleged interference in the affairs of neighbouring Bosnia antagonised the West, which consequently deprived Croatia of much-needed funds.

Earlier this month the Croatian public handed Tudjman's conservative HDZ party a devastating defeat in a parliamentary election, turning instead to the centre-left to try to improve the country's deteriorating economic and social conditions.

Unemployment hit a record 20.4 percent in November and it is expected the economy will be shown to have contracted 1.5 percent in 1999.

The European Union hailed the general election result as proof that democracy could flourish in the Balkans, leaving the rump Yugoslavia of President Slobodan Milosevic ever more isolated on the international stage as the regional pariah.

The presidential campaign has focused more on personalities than on policies with Mesic storming from behind to become the clear leader. The final wave of opinion polls put support for him at around 37 percent.

Budisa, the methodical ally of Prime Minister-designate Ivica Racan, was put in second place with some 24 percent. Outgoing Foreign Minister Mate Granic, 52, who has sought to distance himself from his HDZ party, had just 13 percent.

All three men say they are moderates, have pledged to work with the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and vowed not to meddle in Bosnian politics. They have also all agreed to limit the huge powers of the presidency.

Mesic, 65, was the last president of the former Yugoslavia before the country fell apart in 1991. His folksy, down to earth image has won him much support among an electorate that had grown tired of Tudjman's aloof presidential demeanour.

Budisa, a 51-year old former librarian who was imprisoned during his youth by Yugoslav communists for promoting Croatian nationalism, has portrayed himself as a cautious optimist, more at ease discussing policy than giving soundbites.

Croatia has some 3.8 million eligible voters with a further 350,000 people registered to vote abroad, mainly in Bosnia. Monday has been declared a national holiday and financial markets are closed.-Reuters