the conservatives in the lead, but with fewer seats than expected

All options are therefore open for coalitions, after a tense campaign between the Prime Minister and the President, long-time enemies of Croatian political life.

The negotiations promise to be difficult to form a majority. Croatia’s ruling conservatives came out on top in the parliamentary elections according to initial estimates, but with fewer seats than in 2020. According to initial polls, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s HDZ would win between 58 and 59 of the 151 seats of Parliament – compared to 66 in 2020. In second place, the Social Democrats (SDP) of President Zoran Milanovic would have 43 or 44 seats.

“The HDZ [conservateurs] won more mandates than the left combined, which is an excellent result”, greeted the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister, Davor Bozinovic before 8 p.m. The conservative president of the outgoing Parliament, Gordan Jandrokovic, welcomed a result “solid”. “We can say that Croatia has chosen change. Looking at the results of the center-left parties, I am optimistic and I believe that the final results will be even better than the polls“, declared, opposite, the vice-president of the SDP, Sinisa Hajdas Doncic.

Options open for coalitions

Behind the two major Croatian parties, the nationalist right of the patriotic Homeland movement comes in 3rd position, and could win 13 seats. The left-wing environmentalist party Mozemo 11, and the ultra-conservative Most, who governed for a time with the HDZ before being expelled from the government, would win 9 seats.

All options therefore seem open for coalitions. After a tense campaign in the form of a boxing match between the Prime Minister and the President, long-time enemies of Croatian political life, the time has come to negotiate.