Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats

Amid an ongoing crisis in the ruling coalition in Croatia, with the junior coalition partner, the Croatian People's Party, HNS, threatening the senior Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, that it will vote against the draft budget for 2020, speculation grows about about the coalition collapsing.

With the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, losing potential partners for forming a new governing majority in the Croatian parliament, new general elections seem to be a realistic scenario in the coming months, an analyst told BIRN.

Some 3.7 million Croatian voters will be heading to the polls on Sunday for the local elections, choosing representatives for neighbourhood, city, municipality and county assemblies, as well as directly electing mayors, municipal heads, and county prefects.

Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric could become the subject of an investigation by the Commission for Conflict of Interest Prevention after being reported for his ties with Croatia's biggest private company Agrokor, which is currently going through a financial crisis.

The likely result of an upcoming non-confidence vote on Croatia's Science and Education Minister Pavo Barisic is still unclear as both governing and opposition parties voice conflicting views.

Political experts told BIRN that in the upcoming elections in November, a major role would be played by parties outside the centre-left coalition led by the governing Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the centre-right coalition led by the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ.

Croatia's governing centre-left coalition has signed up some new parties as allies for the upcoming parliamentary elections, which will most likely be held between late October and late November.

The main governing party, the centre-left Social Democratic Party, SDP, signed a coalition agreement on Tuesday in Varazdin, in the north of Croatia.

The head of Croatia's left-wing Labour Party, Nansi Tireli, on Friday said the party is close to join the governing centre-left coalition in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Zlatar Violic has resigned in a formal letter sent to Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday. The Croatian government will formally end her mandate during the course of the day.

Croatian Culture Minister Andrea Zlatar Violic was facing dismissal on Monday following reports that auditors found she took money from the ministry account - only to later return it to the budget in instalments.

The case is seen as a test of the centre-left coalition governments' claim to be more ethically moral than its scandal-ridden, right-wing predecssor.