As of: April 17, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic's election victory is looming. According to opinion polls conducted after the elections, his conservative party is leading. The Social Democrats became the second strongest force. Both need coalition partners.
It is likely that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's ruling conservatives will be able to maintain their leadership position in the Croatian parliamentary elections.
According to the post-election poll, Plenkovic's party will be the strongest force. Accordingly, the ruling conservative party (HDZ) can count on 58 seats in parliament. They were followed by the SPD and the SPD with 44 seats. The right-wing populist “Homeland Movement” party came in third place, winning 13 seats.
HDZ and SDP will be needed Alliance partner
To obtain a majority, 76 seats in the Croatian Parliament are needed. Both the Social Democrats and the Croatian Democratic Union Party will need coalition partners to form the government. The country's president, Zoran Milanovic, announced that he would give the mandate to form the government to whoever can obtain 76 votes in Parliament.
The conservative Most party and the green leftist Mozimo party refuse to form a coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union Party. However, it is possible to form a coalition with the right-wing populist Homeland Movement (Domovinski Bockert). According to the current poll, even their votes will not be enough to obtain a majority.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic is considered one of Plenkovic's harshest critics.
Extreme hatred during the election campaign
The election campaign was characterized by a duel between the two most important political figures in Croatian domestic politics and their mutual hatred: Prime Minister and HDZ leader Plenković on the one hand and President Milanović on the other.
Milanovic is one of Plenkovic's harshest critics. The very popular politician is a fierce populist whose positions fluctuate between left and right, sometimes flipping 180 degrees within a few days.
Plenković – Strong, pragmatic politician
His opponent, Plenkovic, is considered a moderate within the ranks of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union Party, parts of which act in a nationalist manner. The Prime Minister is a pragmatic power politician. This has made him compatible so far, even with coalition partners who are not necessarily ideologically close to the HDZ, such as representatives of the Serb and Italian minorities.
The participation rate in the elections was high. By 4:30 p.m., 50.6% of voters had voted. This is more than the number who voted by the end of the 2020 election.
Silke Hahn, ARD Vienna, Tagesschau, April 17, 2024, 7:59 pm