The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the country’s ruling party, emerged as the winner in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections. Despite their victory, preliminary results indicate that HDZ secured fewer seats than in the 2020 elections, holding 60 out of 151 parliamentary seats, thus falling short of a majority.
The opposition coalition led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) took second place with 42 seats, while the right-wing Homeland Movement (DP) came in third with 14 seats. Other parties such as Bridge (Most) with 11 seats, We Can (Možemo) with 10 seats, and the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) along with the Independent Platform North each securing 2 seats, also made it to parliament. Fokus and the Republic Party gained one seat each.
The outcome signals a period of potential political instability as major parties seek alliances across differing political views to form a government. The pivotal role could fall to the Homeland Movement, which has been criticized by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković during the campaign.
Following the election results, Plenković stated, “For the third consecutive time, HDZ has won the parliamentary elections. Starting tomorrow, we will work towards securing a parliamentary majority to form the government.” If HDZ fails to garner sufficient support, the largest opposition bloc, centered around SDP and its leader President Milanović, may attempt to form a government, possibly leading to a fragile minority administration.
