Jadranka Kosor is seen here attending an election rally in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2007. The 56-year-old former journalist will be the first woman to occupy the post since 1991.

ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatian President Stipe Mesic opened talks yesterday on naming a woman as prime minister for the first time in the Balkan state after the unexpected resignation of Ivo Sanader.

Mesic held discussions with parties representing minorities and was later to meet with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which has proposed he appoint Jadranka Kosor as Sanader’s successor.

The president told national radio earlier he would name Kosor as prime minister-designate once she proves that she has a majority in the 153-seat parliament.

The HDZ says Kosor has already secured the backing of 83 deputies from the governing coalition that it heads.

Croatia has been in political turmoil since Sanader announced Wednesday he was resigning from the post he had held since 2003 and quitting politics, without providing clear reasons for the move.

The decision sparked criticism from the opposition, observers and a large part of the public in the country facing a serious economic crisis and blocked accession talks with the European Union.

“The decision is scandalously unserious and irresponsible, notably since it was not explained at all,” the influential Jutarnji List newspaper said in a commentary.

Speculation about Sanader’s move ranged from possible health problems, although he denied it, to corruption affairs of some his ministers.

Some claimed he stepped down to boost his political options in the future, predicting he would eventually run for president later this year.

But Sanader reiterated yesterday an earlier explanation that his decision to abandon his post around halfway through his four-year mandate was motivated by Zagreb’s stalled EU membership bid.

“My resignation has also an important international dimension. I was telling European politicians... I also did it to protest unacceptable behavior toward Croatia,” he was quoted as saying by Jutarnji List.

“I simply did not want to take part in petty political games on the part of European politicians who, although knowing how important it is that Croatia enters the EU, did not put the necessary effort into stopping Slovenia’s unprecedented blackmailing.”