Croatia's ruling HDZ wins parliamentary vote, majority within reach

Record ID: 1560793

  • Title: Croatia's ruling HDZ wins parliamentary vote, majority within reach
  • Date: 5th July 2020
  • Summary: ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PLENKOVIC CLIMBING ON IMPROVISED STAGE, PEOPLE CHEERING, CHANTING (Croatian) "VICTORY! VICTORY!" PLENKOVIC APPLAUDING PLENKOVIC ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) PRIME MINISTER OF CROATIA AND LEADER OF CROATIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION (HDZ), ANDREJ PLENKOVIC, SAYING: "Today, this result of the Croatian Democratic Union, our victory, is not only overwhelming, but it also represents an obligation because we had a difficult mandate abundant in challenges for us, and the challenges lying ahead of us are certainly even bigger." SUPPORTERS APPLAUDING, PLENKOVIC ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) PRIME MINISTER OF CROATIA AND LEADER OF CROATIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION (HDZ), ANDREJ PLENKOVIC, SAYING: "I think we made a maximum effort, and this victory gives us the right today to rejoice a bit and to be relaxed a bit, and tomorrow morning at 09.00 a.m. we will start again, together and with all our hearts, to work for Croatia. Thank you!"
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2020 00:12
  • Keywords: Croatian Democratic Union HDZ leader Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic Social Democrats
  • Location: ZAGREB, CROATIA
  • City: ZAGREB, CROATIA
  • Country: Croatia
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA002CLJ751J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Croatia's ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) convincingly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, held at a time of rising coronavirus infections and a sharp economic downturn due to the pandemic.
    The official results after around 60% of votes were counted gave the HDZ 68 seats in the 151-seat parliament, while its top opponent, the Social Democrats (SDP) and its small allies, secured 43 seats.
    Nationalist and eurosceptic bloc Domovinski Pokret (Homeland Movement), led by popular singer Miroslav Skoro, came third with 15 seats followed by the conservative Most (Bridge) party with eight seats and leftist Mozemo (We can) with six seats.
    The HDZ will now seek partners to form yet another ruling coalition which analysts believe should not be too difficult given their strong performance.
    The HDZ leader and incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the victory brought with it an obligation to work hard.
    The new government will have an uphill task to keep a grip on the coronavirus while trying to restore the economy, which is expected to shrink about 10 percent this year. Tourism revenues are forecast to slump 70 percent.
    Croatia has reported a relatively small number of COVID-19 infections - a little over 3,000 cases and some 100 deaths so far - but infections have accelerated in the past two weeks, with the daily number of new cases peaking at about 80.
    (Production: Fedja Grulovic, Branko Filipovic)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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