Earlier in the day, Mesic hinted his support for Josipovic, saying that, ifelected, Josipovic would abide by the Constitution and the law, while hecriticised Bandic for the lack of transparency of his campaign funding, hisadvocacy of establishing a separate, Croat-majority entity in neighbouringBosnia and Herzegovina, and his lack of knowledge of English.

Bandic said that before the end of the second round of voting he would poston his Internet site the names of his donors and how the money was spent in thecampaign, while Josipovic described his own campaign as transparent above thestandard, citing the assessment by the nongovernmental election monitoringorganisation GONG.

Bandic called upon Mesic to inform the public after ten years about his owncampaign costs, noting that Mesic could have ended his term "in a moredignified and honest manner".

Josipovic expressed hope that his election platform would also be embracedby right-leaning voters, stressing that as a future president he wouldrepresent all citizens.

Commenting on yesterday's statement by Bandic that he was remote-controlledby SDP leader Zoran Milanovic, Josipovic quipped that "Bandic should havereturned his remote control to (former prime minister) Ivo Sanader."

Speaking of his attitude to the SDP, Bandic said he would not ride roughshodover his former party, but would continue working to the benefit of allcitizens so the country would overcome the economic crisis as soon as possible.