After Franjo Tuđman died in December 1999, Mesić won the elections to become the next president of Croatia in February 2000. He was the last Croatian president to serve under a strong semi-presidential system, which foresaw the president as the most powerful official in the government structure and allowed him to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and his cabinet. This system was abolished in favor of an incomplete parliamentary system, which retained the direct election of the president but greatly reduced his powers in favor of strengthening the office of Prime Minister. He was reelected in January 2005 for a second five-year term. Mesić always topped the polls for the most popular politician in Croatia during his two terms.