Croatian court says Milanovic must resign before running for PM

ZAGREB -- The Croatian Constitutional Court said on Monday that President Zoran Milanovic must resign before running for prime minister (PM).

As the president of Croatia, Milanovic cannot participate in the political activities of any party, Miroslav Separovic, president of the Constitutional Court, said in an announcement.

This excludes the possibility for Milanovic to be a candidate on the list for the election of representatives or to be nominated as a PM candidate, he said.

If Milanovic wants to run for parliamentary elections, he must immediately submit his resignation to the president of the Constitutional Court, in which case the speaker of the Croatian Parliament will become the interim president and presidential elections must be held within 60 days, Separovic said.

The upcoming parliamentary elections will be under strict supervision of the Constitutional Court, he warned.

Milanovic unexpectedly announced on Friday that he would run for prime minister as an independent candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the upcoming elections scheduled for April 17.