Croatia

Croatia

“…After the fall of the short‐lived Orešković cabinet in June (see Cabinet report ), early elections were called for on 11 September, the earliest legally possible election day that would not interfere with school and summer holidays and thus reduce the turnout. The new HDZ leader Andrej Plenković (see Political party report ) decided to disband the previous Patriotic Coalition (Nikić Čakar & Raos ), discarding smaller right‐wing coalition partners. Instead, HDZ contested the election largely on its own, entering into an official coalition with the Croatian Social‐Liberal Party and Croatian Christian Democratic Party in just a few electoral districts, with a handful of candidates from these parties appearing on joint lists.…”

“…The president of the Social Democrats, Zoran Milanović, pursued a completely different electoral strategy. He expanded his previous centre‐left coalition to include the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), while quitting further coalition cooperation with the left‐wing Croatian Labourists, as well as two other minor parties that appeared on the joint ticket at the 2015 election (see Nikić Čakar & Raos ). Milanović named the new coalition the People's Coalition, emphasising that it was a broad coalition ranging from centre‐left to the centre and that its purpose was to offer a clear alternative to nationalist forces.…”

“… d Out of these 59 MPs, three were not HDZ members – two independent candidates won seats running alongside HDZ candidates, while one seat went to a candidate who is a member of HRAST – Movement for a Successful Croatia/ HRAST – Pokret za uspješnu Hrvatsku (HRAST), a party that was an official HDZ coalition partner at the previous election (see Nikić Čakar & Raos ).…”

“…Prior to its dissolution on 15 July, the Sabor remained relatively stable in terms of party and gender composition. With 19 parties gaining seats after the 2015 general elections, the eighth term of the parliament was highly fragmented and with an unbalanced gender structure (see Nikić Čakar & Raos ). During the first half of 2016 the parliament was also heavily affected by the paralysis of Orešković’s cabinet, especially in securing an efficient decision‐making process.…”