The ruling HDZ party has won the most seats in Croatia’s election, according to almost complete official results, but faces tough talks to secure a majority in parliament and form a governing coalition.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had 60 seats in the 151-member assembly, according to results from more than 90 percent of the polling stations. In the previous 2020 vote, the party won 66 seats.
“The HDZ has, for the third [consecutive] time, convincingly won a parliamentary election,” Plenkovic told his supporters in Zagreb shortly after midnight. “As of tomorrow, we will move towards securing the parliamentary majority in order to be able to form the government.”
Wednesday’s closely-fought election was seen as a popularity test for Plenkovic and his conservative HDZ party, which has dominated politics since Croatia’s independence from a crumbling Yugoslavia in 1991.
The HDZ had hoped to ride the long-term support it has enjoyed for overseeing Croatia’s accession to the European Union, the introduction of the euro and a boom in tourism even as voters tired of the party, high inflation and corruption scandals.
“It is not over. Days, weeks and perhaps months of talks are ahead of us, and they will result in the change that will make Croatia a better place. We will start talks as of tomorrow,” he said.
The State Election Commission said turnout on Wednesday was 61.83 percent, compared with 47 percent at the last election in 2020.
<<Aljazeera>>
