Croatians began voting yesterday in a snap election whose outcome might prolong political uncertainty in the EU’s newest member, which had shifted to the right under previous conservative governments.
The election comes as the former Yugoslav republic faces economic struggles and at a time of strained ties between neighbors in the volatile Balkans, notably with former enemy Serbia.
Polling stations opened at 7am and are scheduled to close twelve hours later. The first official results were expected late yesterday.
About 3.8 million Croatians are eligible to vote in the polls, which come less than a year after an election in November last year produced no absolute winner.
A barely functioning coalition government, led by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, took power following that vote, before collapsing in June over a conflict of interest scandal.
The coalition’s five-month rule was marked by a shift to the right amid a growing climate of intolerance, including attacks on independent media and minorities, notably ethnic Serbs.
Authorities have appeared to turn a blind eye to the far-right surge, but it has sparked international concern and brought already frosty ties with Serbia to their lowest level since Croatia’s 1990s independence war.
In recent months the neighbors have exchanged bitter accusations over their wartime past, with Belgrade accusing Zagreb of a “rebirth of Nazism.”
Polls and analysts give a slight lead to a coalition led by the main conservative Social Democrats (SDP) of former prime minister Zoran Milanovic, who was in power for four years until November last year.
“[The] SDP seems set to win but without an absolute majority” in the 151-seat parliament, political analyst Zarko Puhovski told reporters.
The likeliest outcome is a similar scenario to that of the previous vote — prolonged talks on forming a government and potentially another election.
The HDZ is banking on staying in power with a new and more moderate leader, Andrej Plenkovic, who has pledged to move it away from populism and extremism.
“I’m changing the HDZ... My mission is to position it in the center-right,” the 46-year-old former member of the European Parliament said.
The HDZ’s former junior government partner — the “Most” party (meaning “Bridge” in Croatian) — is likely to play kingmaker again.
With Plenkovic’s moderate agenda, the HDZ could also count on the backing of minorities, notably Serbs, as well as Croatians living abroad, its traditional supporters.
Rival Milanovic, 49, has been stressing his experience as prime minister and has pledged a “government of progress and tolerance.”
However, he has sharpened his populist rhetoric after disappointing voters with scant reforms while in power.
He has also repeatedly slammed Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic over his ultranationalist wartime stance.
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