Croatia ruling party set for election win preliminary results show

Croatia's ruling HDZ party was in the lead in a parliamentary election on Wednesday, according to preliminary official results from the country's election commission, but exit polls suggested deals with other parties may be needed to form a governing coalition.

Croatia's ruling HDZ party was in the lead in a parliamentary election on Wednesday, according to preliminary official results from the country's election commission, but exit polls suggested deals with other parties may be needed to form a governing coalition. The HDZ was on track to win the parliamentary vote on Wednesday with 65 seats in the 151-seat parliament, according to preliminary results from 31.69% of polling stations counted. The result was likely to change as the count continued.

A coalition led by the opposition Social Democratic Party was set to come in second with 42 seats, while the right-wing Homeland Movement was set to take third place with 13. According to exit polls, the HDZ will win 58 seats, meaning it would have to seek a wider coalition to get a 76-seat majority in parliament.

The exit polls gave the SDP coalition 44 seats. The vote was seen as a popularity test for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his HDZ party, which has dominated politics since Croatia's independence from a crumbling federal Yugoslavia in 1991.

The outcome could also dictate major policy, including how the Croatian government views the conflict in Ukraine, and relations with the European Union. Plenkovic supports Ukraine; the opposition does not. If confirmed, the slim victory will likely usher in a period of political instability in the EU member state as the main parties seek to forge alliances with other factions with differing political views.

"The fact is that it (the result) is so complicated and no one can either be happy or sad. There is a lot of uncertainty," SDP official and European Parliament member Biljana Borzan told Nova TV. The Homeland Movement could emerge as kingmaker, although publicly it has not said which party - if any - it will back.

HDZ officials were publicly optimistic. "We are convincing winners for the third time, it should be emphasized that this is our third mandate and the citizens obviously respect the policy led by the HDZ," Gordan Jandrokovic, an HDZ official and the former speaker of parliament, told Reuters.

The HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) had hoped to ride the long-term support it has for overseeing Croatia's accession to the EU, the introduction of the euro and a boom in tourists visiting the country's Adriatic coastline. But many have grown tired of the party and its many graft scandals, including Plenkovic's appointment of a state attorney known for links with people involved in corrupt dealings, may dent its majority. Plenkovic denies wrongdoing.

The State Election Commission said turnout by 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) was 50.6% compared with 34.4% at the same time in the last parliamentary election, held in 2020. "Regardless of the final distribution of seats, it is likely the parliament will be more fragmented and coalition negotiations will drag on for longer," said Mario Bikarski, East and Central Europe Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

"A minority government, either HDZ- or SDP-led, would be even more unstable and unlikely to last its full term."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)