Opposition parties in Croatia poll runoff

Relevant offers

Europe

Greece surveys riots damage after austerity vote Ex-UK police officer convicted of corruption Riots as Greece approves austerity Girl buried in Kosovo avalanche rescued Woman sets herself on fire in Moscow Police arrest five at Murdoch's Sun newspaper Thousands protest in Athens Shock at River Cottage barn blaze Cruise ship disaster captain knew 'it was over' Argentina slams British 'militarisation'

The ruling conserative party will not take part in the runoff for presidential elections in Croatia.

After nearly all votes were counted from Sunday's vote, the state-run Electoral Commission says the leftist opposition Social Democrat member, Ivo Josipovic, garnered 32.4 percent of votes and Zagreb's popular Mayor Milan Bandic got 14.8 percent of votes.

Since neither garnered the 50-percent support required for outright victory, they will now face each other in a January 10 runoff.

The failure of the ruling conservative party member to get to the runoff signals Croatians' growing dissatisfaction with government's handling of economic decline and high-level corruption.

- AP