Croatia’s governing conservatives win election with surprising ease
- Country’s elections had been moved forward by months in midst of coronavirus outbreak
- Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic claimed 62 of the 151 seats directly, according to exit polls
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's gamble to move the elections forward by a few months just as the Covid-19 pandemic appeared to be waning has paid a stunning dividend in Sunday's parliamentary election.
“We leave a difficult, testing term behind and are facing possibly greater challenges ahead,” Plenkovic said after declaring victory to supporters at midnight (2200 GMT).
According to exit poll projections, the HDZ claimed 62 of the 151 seats directly, with more coming from expatriates and the redistribution of votes from parties that failed to win seats.
The raw official count, with 85 per cent of the ballots processed, showed the HDZ at 69 seats.
That would allow Plenkovic to avoid a potentially controversial alliance with the far-right Homeland Movement of the former singer Miroslav Skoro, provisionally with 15 seats.
The opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), tipped in pre-election surveys to win a slim majority, meanwhile suffered a devastating defeat and is now projected to win around 43 seats.