Croatian citizens will for the first time on Sunday elect their 12 representatives in the European Parliament, the only institutions whose members are elected directly and together with the Council of Minister is is the legislative authority of the European Union which Croatia is scheduled to join on 1 July.
The State Electoral Commission has received 28 valid slates - 27 party slates and one of a group of voters led by Istria County Prefect Ivan Jakovcic. Of the party slates, 19 are independent and 8 are coalition slates.
A total of 40 political parties, namely 336 candidate are running in the election in which Croatia is one constituency. Of the total number of candidates, 207 are male (61.61%) and 129 are women (38.39%). The average age of candidates is 46.22 years -- the yungest was born in 1991 and the oldest in 1933.
