Coalition Talks To Be Needed w/PM's Party Unlikely To Secure Majority

Croatia holds its parliamentary election today (17 April), with PM Andrej Plenkovic's centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)-led alliance looking to secure a third successive term in office. However, opinion polling ahead of the vote shows that while the HDZ looks set to emerge as the largest single party post-election, it will likely fall short of an overall majority, requiring coalition negotiations after the votes are tallied.

• A centre-left alliance, the 'Rivers of Justice', has seen a jump in popularity after current president and former Social Democratic Party PM Zoran Milanović began to actively front the alliance's campaign. Milanović's plain-speaking style and public concerns about corruption and nepotism within the Plenkovic gov't have seen some voters shift towards the opposition group.
• In order to gain a majority, Plenkovic and the HDZ could be forced into a coalition with the social conservative 'The Bridge', which it worked with in coalition for a short time from Oct 2016-Apr 2017, or possibly the right-wing nationalist Homeland Movement. Given Plenkovic's gov't has overseen Croatia's entry into the eurozone, forming a gov't with either of these parties on the right, both of which are broadly eurosceptic, could prove difficult.
• Polls close at 1900CET (1300ET, 1800BST), with exit polls expected to be released shortly afterwards. Official results come in the following days.