ZAGREB, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A survey published here on Thursday showed that Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic could win most votes in the presidential elections on Sunday, and face off in the second round on Jan. 5, with the incumbent president winning in the end by a thin margin.
According to the survey published by national television HRT, the race would be very close with Grabar-Kitarovic winning 28.3 percent of votes and Milanovic 26.6 percent. The third strongest option is popular singer and independent candidate Miroslav Skoro who is expected to get 20.7 percent of votes.
The monthly survey was conducted by the Promocija Plus agency from Dec. 13 to Dec. 17, ahead of the only TV debate held on Tuesday. Many political analysts believe that Skoro fell short of expectations in the debate, while Grabar-Kitarovic and Milanovic did well.
The survey indicated that the incumbent president would beat former prime minister and win another five-year term, and that Grabar-Kitarovic would get 49 percent of votes in the second round, Milanovic, 46.9 percent.
Grabar-Kitarovic has the support of the ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), whereas Milanovic is the candidate of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The first round of the election will be on Sunday, Dec. 22. If no candidate wins more than half of the votes, two candidates with most votes will face off in the second round on Jan. 5, 2020.
