Croatian president nominates incumbent Plenkovic as PM-designate

Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic nominated the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party leader Andrej Plenkovic as prime minister-designate on Thursday, following a July 5 parliamentary election.

Plenkovic's HDZ party is set to form a coalition with the support of two smaller liberal parties and the representatives of national minorities.

The HDZ won 66 seats in the 151-seat parliament well ahead of the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, who with its allies won 41 seats. Plenkovic headed the outgoing HDZ-led coalition over the past four years.