Presidential candidates begin collecting signatures to get on the ballot

Candidates running in the presidential election have twelve days to gather 10 thousand signatures to get their names on the ballot for the December 29 

The clock started ticking last night and candidates wasted no time in getting to work on Friday morning.

Incumbent Zoran Milanović is telling voters that with his knowledge and experience he is the most qualified candidate. He says his campaign will be different this time around, given that's he's already the president.

"I'm going to let my challengers speak while I'm going to wait by the river, as Sun Tzu said. I've been speaking for five years and I believe that those who support me will do so again. That's it. It's the last dance,” Milanović told reporters.

HDZ candidate Dragan Primorac had no trouble getting to ten thousand signatures on day one. He's vowing to be a salve to heal the country from Milanović’s divisiveness.

"Everything I'm doing is for the people. I am going to be a president that brings people together, not drives them apart,” Primorac said.

Marija Selak Raspudić is aware that as an independent candidate, she's fighting an uphill battle. However, she’s confident voters will come through for her.

"Everyone tells me, you're the best candidate but the party machine will prevail. Let's not lose faith. We need a bit of spite, not just in Slavonia, all over Croatia. People can think for themselves and they will decide who wins this election,” said Selak Raspudić.

Most candidate Miro Bulj describes himself as an "authentic" man of the people. He is angry that Croatia has taken back asylum seekers returned from other Western countries. The Ministry of Interior pushed back earlier this week against his allegations that migrants were being flown back to Croatian on secret flights. He is pledging to crack down on illegal migration.

"All of these people who are being brought back, the people that the traitors have allowed into Croatia, all of them are going to be deported as soon as I am president,” said Bulj.

Ivana Kekin of Možemo is pledging to be a check on the HZD.

"Voters have found their voice in me. They tell me what I should say to Plenković because they see me as someone who can stand up to Plenković and the HDZ with arguments not insults,” Kekin said.

Former MP Karolina Vidović Krišto is also running although her Determination and Justice party is not in parliament. She's promising to act swiftly to crack down on corruption.

"I guarantee that if elected, Croatian citizens will feel an improvement in their lives within three months. When I am set free with the presidential powers granted to me by the constitution, entire corrupt structures will start to crumble."

Domino party candidate Branka Lozo is running as someone who will push against the directives coming from Brussels.

"I will advocate for Croatia to be recognized not as a nation subservient to Brussels but one that charts its own polices,” Lozo said.

Candidates have until December 10 to gather the needed number of signatures. Once their submissions are cleared by the Electoral Commission, the official campaign period will begin.