Croatia's top court rules President Milanović cannot be prime minister because of campaign

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s Constitutional Court on Friday banned President Zoran Milanović from becoming prime minister in case his center-left party manages to garner a majority after this week’s highly contested parliamentary election.

The ballot on Wednesday ended inconclusively. The governing center-right Croatian Democratic Union won the most votes but not enough to rule alone. Although it finished second, Milanović's Social Democratic Party is also trying to muster a coalition in the 151-member parliament.

Milanović made a surprise announcement that he would run for prime minister just hours after calling the election for April 17. The Constitutional Court later warned him that he had to resign first, a warning that he ignored.

“The Constitutional Court established that with his statements and behavior the president ... brought himself in the position that he can neither be the prime minister-designate of the future government nor the future prime minister,” said the ruling.