Croatian Parties Scramble To Form Government In Hung Parliament

Croatian parties scrambled to form a ruling coalition Thursday, a day after an election in which the ruling conservative party won the most seats but not a parliamentary majority

Zagreb, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Apr, 2024) Croatian parties scrambled to form a ruling coalition Thursday, a day after an election in which the ruling conservative party won the most seats but not a parliamentary majority.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 61 seats in the 151-member assembly, near-complete results showed.

A centre-left coalition led by the Social Democrats (SDP) won 42. It was followed by the nationalist right-wing Homeland Movement party with 14 seats.

An ultra-conservative party and a green-left one won 11 and 10 seats each.

It will be known "very soon with whom we will form a new majority in the parliament", Plenkovic, 54, said Thursday on Facebook.

"We are continuing the talks today."

But SDP leader Pedja Grbin said earlier the party will also try to cobble together a majority, although their task appears more difficult.

Analysts say that the HDZ has the most comfortable position to gather a majority of 76 MPs while the right-wingers could be key.

"The Homeland Movement (DP) is the most likely kingmaker while the talks will be tough and uncertain at least in the first phase," political analyst Zarko Puhovski told AFP -- a view shared by most of his peers.