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The results are seen as a crushing defeat for the Restart Coalition, a left-wing political alliance led by the president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Davor Bernardić, who came in second with 42 seats. Polls before the vote placed them close to, and sometimes ahead of, their conservative competitors.
“Of course, this result is bad for SDP and the Restart Coalition. I will not evade responsibility and I am ready to leave. Tomorrow we will discuss this at a meeting of party leaders, ”Bernardić said at a press conference at his party’s electoral headquarters.
HDZ’s management of the pandemic and SDP’s internal struggles helped HDZ take the lead, analysts say.
“The disappointing numbers for SDP are the result of an internal disunity in the party as to whether it should be a centrist or center-left party,” said Helena Popović, professor of sociology at the University of Zagreb. “There is a significant grouping within the party that does not support Bernardić and his party leadership, and Bernardić has largely ignored this over the years.”
While Plenković made no reference to potential coalition partners in his victory speech, HDZ should have an easy time finding a partner based on the results, analysts predict.
A potential contender is the right-wing populist movement Patria, which came in third and was formed after its lead candidate, popular singer Miroslav Škoro, failed to make it through the first round of the presidential election in December last year. Škoro’s party has the support of the hard-line nationalists who have campaigned against abortion, announced that it would stop projects considered “anti-Croatian” and said it would refuse to include the Serbian minority party in a ruling coalition.
Daniela Širinić, a political scientist, said the results of Sunday’s vote show that “the Croatian political space has moved significantly to the right.”
Plenković called the elections months earlier than originally scheduled, in part in a bid to avoid a possible drop in support for his party during the summer, as trips to the highly tourism-dependent country are sold out amid the pandemic. Analysts have predicted that Croatia could face its worst economic crisis since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Croatia ranks first in the EU when it comes to the share of GDP that depends on tourism, at 18.4 per cent. hundred.
The country has reported a relatively small number of coronavirus infections compared to the rest of Europe, with 3,151 cases registered as of Sunday and 113 victims in a population of around 4 million, but the cases have increased in the past 10 days.
Whoever is in government after the elections will face an extraordinary challenge this fall. This inevitable crisis will require a lot of skill from whoever is in power, ”said Popović. “In many ways, this is HDZ’s fault as they have ignored calls over the years to shift the economy’s dependence on tourism toward industrial development, green energy and other sectors.”
Croatia’s political landscape has been largely dominated by HDZ and SDP since the country emerged from the fall of the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.
HDZ led the country through the war in the former Yugoslavia and often campaigns on nationalist sentiments, conservative social values, and neoliberal economic policies. SDP is a successor to the state party that led during the socialist period and attracts leftist voters.
“HDZ received a boost for its handling of the pandemic, but over the years they have created a clientelist structure of voters who vote primarily to keep the jobs they received through HDZ’s influence in the country or region.” Popović said.
The HDZ-led government has also just finished its six-month term as head of the EU Presidency Council, but its use of other EU leaders in a video posted on the eve of the election sparked controversy: both the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the head of democracy and demography of the EU, Dubravka Šuica, appeared in the clip with other members of the European People’s Party, to which HDZ belongs. Critics questioned whether the video breached neutrality expectations for the Commission.
Commission chief spokesman Eric Mamer tweeted on Sunday that “The President recorded a short sound bite to use in a video involving various PPE politicians. It was a contribution in his personal capacity. Unfortunately, this was not made clear. in the final version of the video. “
Participation in Croatia was lower than in the last parliamentary elections in 2016: 46.3 percent compared to 52.6 percent. But ethnic Croats in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, who generally hold dual citizenship, voted in greater numbers and mainly for HDZ.
