"If I were a Constitutional Court judge, I would have voted differently," Josipovic told reporters after a meeting of the Council for Social Justice, adding that he was not denying the Constitutional Court judges their right to decision making because it was their power under the Constitution.

Josipovic recalled that during discussions on a referendum on the amendments to the Labour Act he had proposed compromise solutions because it was a very sensitive issue for Croatian society.

"It's an issue on which a large number of citizens took a clear stand and I think it's a matter of respect for citizens' will that sensible decisions should be taken," the President said.

Josipovic said he would discuss the matter with the trade unions as well as with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and the political parties, because it was a very important issue having a great impact on the stability of the country.

Commenting on plans by the trade unions to organise protests against the court ruling, and the response from the Constitutional Court, which accused the unions of sending out "messages of destruction", Josipovic said that the right to a peaceful protest was guaranteed by the Constitution.

Asked about possible political influence on the Constitutional Court, Josipovic said there was no proof of that, adding that such an election mechanism should be established that there would be no doubts about the political impartiality of judges.

Also on Wednesday, the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) said it could not comment on Constitutional Court rulings, but questioned whether there was any point in insisting on a referendum since the government had withdrawn the amendments.

"The Constitutional Court is an independent and autonomous body, so we cannot evaluate its decisions, but calls for a referendum can hardly be justified considering the fact that the government has withdrawn its amendments from the parliamentary procedure," HUP deputy director Bernard Jakelic said..

Vesna Pusic of the opposition Croatian People's Party (HNS) and Milorad Pupovac of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said that the decision on the referendum should have been taken by Parliament rather than the Constitutional Court.

Pusic said that the Constitutional Court should only decide on whether a referendum was conducted in accordance with the law and the Constitution. "They, however, were not deliberating on that, but made a political judgement," she added.