State Election Commission starts announcing elections results.
At 7 pm, polling stations in Croatia closed and first exit poll results were published by the national media.
At 10 pm, the State Election Commission started publishing actual results. Currently, distribution of seats in Parliament is as follows (91 percent of precincts reporting):
HDZ 61
SDP 54
MOST 12
Živi Zid 8
IDS 4
Milan Bandić 2
HDSSB 1
Željko Glasnović (independent candidate for diaspora) 1
In addition to 140 MPs elected in ten constituencies, 3 MPs will be elected by Croatian nationals living abroad, and 8 MPs by national minorities. It takes 76 MPs to form a government.
HDZ is celebrating the first official results which show it having 10 seats more than SDP. Goran Marić said that “it is necessary to wait for all the votes to be counted. The results will change, but I am sure that we will have more MPs in the end. Each MP means stronger negotiating position. We have a lot of potential coalition partners, and I believe we will have the support of more than 80 MPs.”
Milanka Opačić (SDP) says that “it is necessary to wait for more votes to be counted. We have to see who is ready to enter into a coalition for a stable government. We expect that the difference will be much smaller when all the votes to be counted.”
Ines Strenja-Linić (MOST) says that “they expect to have even more seats. People have realized that MOST is a party which advocates for all people. We have demonstrated continuity and we have stable electorate. I expect 15 seats in the end.”
Jelena Pavičić-Vukičević (Milan Bandić): I am not disappointed, we have received more votes than last year, although perhaps we will not win more seats in Parliament.
Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović (HDZ): HDZ is the winner of these elections. We call already see how the next government will look like, with Plenković as Prime Minister. We will continue cooperation with MOST.”
Anka Mrak-Taritaš (HNS): I am sad that the coalition did not have better results, but I am happy that I have received enough personal preferential votes to be elected to Parliament.
Zvonko Milas (HDZ): Mr. Glasnović is a candidate for Croatia and he does not represent a lost vote for HDZ in diaspora.
Slaven Dobrović (MOST): We are satisfied with 12 seats, but we hope for more. MOST is the third strongest party which is present in all parts of Croatia.
Boris Miletić (IDS): Our regional parties have achieve great result. We have received more votes than ever. We have put forward the topic of decentralization which is important for whole of Croatia. Current model has not been successful.
Ivan Lovrinović (Živi Zid coalition): I would like to that to everybody who voted for us. We are delighted, but we did expect this. We said one month ago that we would be the biggest suprise of the elections. We were blocked by the media, although our economic proposals are very detailed and are the only way forward. We have a responsibility towards voters.
Branko Grčić (SDP): I No one will have a government tomorrow, which means that we will again have negotiations. I expect a new political instability.
Krešo Beljak (HSS): I do not think that we have chosed wrong coalition partners. We will support Zoran Milanović to be Prime Minister. I cannot see myself with parties from the other side.
Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (Živi Zid): We are absolutely satisfied with the results. We are waiting for final results, and tomorrow we will decide what to do next.
Milan Bandić: We will not be in opposition. We are always a solutio, because you cannot do anything from the opposition. The situation will be even complicated than last year. We might have new elections soon. We will have at least 3 MPs.
Zoran Milanović (SDP): I would like to thank all those who have supported us. The result will be tight, but this has not been a happy day for Croatia. After 8 months of experiments, there is no substantial change. We need a stable government, which we did not have in the last eight months. We have to forget our personal ambitions and put ourselves at disposal of the country. I would like to thank our coalition partners. Unfortunately, turnout was not good, and we have to ask ourselves why. We have to wait for all votes to be counted, but we need a stable government. We have done everything to motivate people, but we could have obviously done better. Croatia is the most important, and our personal careers are not important.
Božo Petrov (MOST): Thank you for the confidence that you have given us. You have recognized that MOST will not abandon reforms. We will put public interest ahead of everything else. I would like to call on young people to get involved in politics, because not everybody is the same. They might call you amateurs, but be happy. I would be worried if they started to praise us. Croatia can and must be better, politics can be better, but it needs you, those of you who today think about when a bus is leaving to some other country. We are not naive, we do not expect that everything will be better. We do not need to love each other, but the country needs to be above everything else. We have put forward demands which guarantee that Croatia will be a step closer to a more organized state. Those who accept them can expect our support. We give them a deadline of 5 days to them. If they care about our state interest then they can demonstrate it with their deeds and not with their words. We will not give up. They can take a week, and if this is too much for them and if they want to go without us, they should do it now. Our opponent can reject our demands, and MOST can stay in opposition. If they accept them, that would be a proof that they are ready to go through with reforms and changes that this country needs. The demands are just 5 percent of what they promised to their voters. We expect them that we will come to an agreement about the demands and major reforms that they have already once accepted. Croatia has a right to hope for the better future.
Andrej Plenković (HDZ): I would like to thank everybody who have given us such a strong support. Two months ago, HDZ was not in a good position. When I launched my party presidential camping, I had several goals. I wanted to position HDZ to centre-right part of the political spectrum, to a position which was foreseen by Franjo Tuđman, our founder and first president. We have done it in a very short time. We have managed to introduce new culture of dialogue in politics. We have based campaign on our manifesto, which is turned towards to the future. These were our goals and this key messages have been recognized by many of the voters. When I launched the process of transformation od HDZ, I said that the party had to be credible. We had four goals: stability of institutions, legal security, economic growth and development, social justice). These are key programme points. I am sure that we will form a stable future Croatian government for the next four years. We are open to cooperation with parties which are close in their worldview. Tomorrow we will have a meeting for the National Council, talk with our partners, and prepare for negotiations. I want for the next government to be stable and to be oriented towards Europe. We will care about young people, about rural development, and agriculture will be one of key priorities. We will also take care of workers and their rights. This is an important day for Croatian democracy. We have demonstrated that we have regained the confidence of people. I would like to thank all our candidates and my associates on their efforts in the campaign.
