Croatian Prime Minister's party wins legislative elections: “We will form our third government”

Plenkovic mocks the result of the Social Democrats, who only obtained one more seat compared to the previous legislature

April 18 () –

The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has achieved victory in the legislative elections held this Wednesday in the country, obtaining 60 seats, according to 98.2 percent counted, and thus positioning itself as the most voted force in the country. Parliament.

Behind the conservatives is the Ríos de Justicia coalition, led by the social democrats (SDP), with 42 deputies. The ultranationalists of the Homeland Movement (DP) also consolidate their position as the third force by obtaining 14 deputies, while the liberal Most obtains eleven seats. The progressive party Mozemo ( Podemos in Croatian) has won ten deputies, vastly improving its results.

Plenkovic, after the publication of the results, which represent the loss of six seats for the HDZ compared to the previous legislature, celebrated his party's victory and took the opportunity to thank the Croatians who went to the polls and who have contributed “to this glorious victory”, as the political party has collected through the social network X.

“HDZ has convincingly won the parliamentary elections for the third time in a row. In the morning, we will begin to form a new majority for the Government of Croatia in our third consecutive term,” Plenkovic announced.

Thus, he has criticized the Croatian president, the pro-Russian Zoran Milanovic, promoter of the Ríos de Justicia coalition and who emerged as a candidate to unseat the Government, although the Constitutional Court later denied him the candidacy by demanding his resignation as head of State before run for head of government.

“I invite to dialogue all parties that have earned the trust of voters and do not show as much exclusivity as those we defeated. Despite all the bile spilled, hate speech and violation of the Croatian Constitution by Milanovic , the SDP has only gained one more seat than in the previous elections,” he declared.

Despite these results, which have coincided with the surveys published in recent weeks, governability in Croatia will depend on the conservatives of the HDZ or the social democratic coalition obtaining the necessary support to form a Government, a task that a priori cannot be achieved. It is presented simply.

More than half of the Croatian population, a record number in the country, has gone to the polls in an anomalous election called just over a month ago after the main parliamentary formations approved the dissolution of the unicameral Congress at the request of Prime Minister Plenkovic .

The tensions between Milanovic and Plenkovic have revealed the differences between the president and the prime minister, who have clearly opposing ideologies and who have taken advantage of these recent weeks to intensify an exchange of attacks and accusations. The first points out the head of government for the repeated cases of corruption that have affected not only his party, but also his government, while the latter questioned the president's positions regarding the war in Ukraine.