The Living Wall has reiterated that it is not interested in entering a government coalition with either major party, having aimed at securing enough votes to form a coalition without the two major game players.
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A Social Democrat-led four-party alliance stands to win about 60 of 151 seats in a fragmented parliament, while its conservative rival, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), should be a few seats behind, polls say.
It is obvious that small “third-way” parties will once again play a key role in forming a new government, similar with last election when junior party MOST had a surprise win with 19 seats.
Center-right leader Andrej Plenkovic addresses the media outside a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016.
Voters in the EU’s newest member state on Sunday seemed unlikely to produce a clear victor amid growing political uncertainty in the country.
Croatians may have lost enthusiasm for voting a second time in less than a year: by mid-afternoon turnout was some nine points down on November polls. “We are the party that will have the privilege of forming a stable government”, Plenkovic said as he claimed victory early on Monday.
Polls in the run-up to the election had already suggested a slight lead for the coalition led by the Social Democrats and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who was in power for four years until November 2015. A close result could force either party to seek the help of the centre-right party Most (Bridge), to form a coalition.
Some 3.8 million Croatians were eligible to vote in the election, which came at a time of economic gloom and strained ties between neighbours in the volatile Balkans.
HDZ’s political secretary Davor Ivo Stier, and party president Andrej Plenkovic on elections night. Almost three years after joining the European Union, Croatia’s record of securing European funds is poor.
Like many other central European states, Croatia had tilted to the right under the previous HDZ-led government. You have now viewed your allowance of free articles. A “Spanish scenario” might however be avoided: after initially hinting at the need for a stable government – and therefore potentially to a grand coalition – Milanović has announced that he will not be standing in the next elections for the party leadership.
But any government will struggle to deliver reforms being urged by the European Union, which is monitoring Croatia’s debt-burdened economy and an investment environment it sees as business-unfriendly.
Although more advanced than other Balkan countries, Croatia has one of the weakest economies in the European Union following years of crisis after the 1991-95 war.
The EU wants its youngest member to tame high public debt, reduce the budget deficit and improve the business climate to spur economic growth.
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“This is not a new trend, the right-wingers winning”, said Ljerka Kavoci, a Zagreb resident.
