The opposition coalition Kukuriku said on Tuesday evening that Natalija Martincevic would replace Goran Habus on its list of candidates in Constituency No. 3, which covers Krapina-Zagorje, Varazdin and Medjimurje counties, in the coming parliamentary election.
The coalition said on its website that its Croatian People's party (HNS), of which Habus is a member, today received the opinion requested of the State Election Commission (DIP), after which the party decided to put Martincevic on the slate instead of Habus.
DIP spokesman Hrvoje Sabaric told Hina that the DIP had informed the HNS that slates could be changed until midnight on Wednesday, when DIP would say if they were valid.
The HNS said it had received "positive signals" from the DIP regarding its request and that the official replacement decision would be made tonight or tomorrow morning.
Habus, recently elected mayor of Varazdin, caused a minor drunk driving accident over the weekend.
Asked about it yesterday while submitting their lists of candidates to the DIP, Kukuriku leaders said such behaviour was unacceptable. Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Zoran Milanovic said he had no understanding or justification for it but that a decision on the matter was up to the HNS.
Its president, Radimir Cacic, who is to go on trial for causing a traffic accident in Hungary, agreed with Milanovic, saying such behaviour could not be tolerated but that he would not ask Habus to resign as mayor of Varazdin or from the coalition's slate in Constituency No. 3. "Any further mistake like this will be punished by the party as well," Cacic added.
