HDZ Looks to Form Croatia Govt After Surprise Win

After Croatia's State Election Commission counted all the votes from the general election, the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, has emerged as the clear winner with 61 seats.

The centre-left People's Coalition came second with 54 seats followed by the centre-right MOST [Bridge], party, which won 13.

The Only Option coalition, led by the anti-establishment Living Wall, won eight seats and came fourth.

As experts predicted, the HDZ is likely to again form a government with MOST, which HDZ's vice president and outgoing culture minister Zlatko Hasanbegovic announced last night.

Nevertheless, MOST's president, the outgoing vice prime minister, Bozo Petrov, said shortly after midnight that all parties and coalitions interested in forming the government have a five-day deadline to accept MOST's seven conditions.

MOST says some of its conditions must be implemented when the new parliament is formed and before the new government is sworn in.

"This time, we don't expect only promises from them [potential coalition partners], but doing it as well. Parliament must be constituted, realise the conditions, and then only will the government be formed," he told enthusiastic party members and sympathizers.

"For us, a stable government is comprised of those who are willing to change things. A stable government doesn't mean 'only words' and simple promises," he explained.

HDZ president Andrej Plenkovic meanwhile delivered a speech after midnight Sunday, thanking his colleagues for contributing to the party's good result, after its popularity dipped in June, during the peak of the crisis within the last government.

"We were in an unfavourable position a few months ago," he recalled.

"I had a few goals when I...