Croatia seeks way to tip the electoral scales second time around
Croatia found itself in a strange situation in mid-June: The center-right government led by the technocrat Tihomir Oreskovic was overthrown by a vote of no-confidence that had originated in the coalition. Tomislav Karamarko, the chairman of the governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), had wanted to form a new majority in parliament and become prime minister himself, but that plan backfired. The hope of forming a new majority in parliament proved to be a futile undertaking. The only thing left to do was to call for new elections as a way out of this self-made government crisis. Karamarko had to resign as leader of the HDZ.
According to the polls, Sunday’s elections will not simplify anything. The two main blocs – the conservative HDZ and the small Croatian Social Liberal Party on one side of the political spectrum and the center-left coalition led by the Social Democrats (SDP) on the other – will probably only win about 30 percent of the vote each, but that will not be enough to form a new government.
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(Photo: vlada.hr)
