Croatia's ruling party wins parliamentary elections: exit polls

ZAGREB -- The ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, won the most seats in the parliamentary elections on Wednesday, but fell short of the half of seats required to form a government, exit polls showed.

So far, 140 parliamentary seats have been decided, with the HDZ securing 59 seats but falling short of the 76 seats required to form a government. Following behind is the alliance of parties led by the center-left Croatian Social Democratic Party (SDP) with 43 seats, trailed by the Homeland Movement with 13 seats, according to the exit polls.

The Croatian Parliament has a unicameral system with 151 seats and a four-year term. The preceding parliament, formed in July 2020, was dissolved on March 14.