The Constitutional Court concluded on Monday that President Zoran Milanovic may not participate in the political activities of a political party during his term of office, according to the President of the Constitutional Court Miroslav Separovic.

This excludes the possibility of the President of the Republic appearing as a candidate on a list for the parliamentary elections or as a candidate for the office of Prime Minister in connection with the planned parliamentary elections and participating in the election campaign in this capacity, the Constitutional Court ruled, stating that this is incompatible with the constitutional position and powers of the President and the separation of powers.

If the President of the Republic announces his candidacy for the parliamentary elections during his term of office or announces himself as a future candidate for the office of Prime Minister, he must immediately offer his resignation to the President of the Constitutional Court. In this case, the office of interim President of the Republic will be assumed by the President of Parliament in accordance with the Constitution, according to the Constitutional Court.

President Milanovic confirmed on Sunday that he would not resign as president and would run as the Social Democratic Party’s candidate for prime minister in the parliamentary elections. Regarding the expected decision of the Constitutional Court on his candidacy, Milanovic said that “some sentences in the Constitution” are dedicated to this matter and that he interprets them quite differently.