All this, together with Tuđman's death in December 1999, affected the 2000 parliamentary elections. Although the HDZ remained the largest single party, it was defeated by the centre-left coalition of six opposition parties, and many saw the large turnout as a referendum against the HDZ, just as the 1990 elections had been seen as a referendum on communism and Yugoslavia. This impression was underlined at the subsequent presidential election, when the HDZ candidate Mate Granić, heavily favored to win, finished third and therefore failed to enter the second round of voting, won by Stipe Mesić.