September 12 (SeeNews) - The conservative Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, has won 61 of the 151 seats in the country's parliament but once again faces tough coalition talks after failing to come out with an outright majority in Sunday's early election.
Its main political rival, a coalition around the Social Democratic Party, SDP, won 54 seats after polls predicted a tighter race, preliminary results showed on Monday.
With 100% of the votes processed, HDZ won the elections in six constituencies and secured two diaspora votes, while SDP won in four constituencies results show, according to information from the state electoral commission.
HDZ's current coalition partner, MOST, won 13 seats, thus again becoming the kingmaker, while SDP former coalition partner, the Istrian Democratic Assembly, secured three MPs.
MOST leader Bozo Petrov hinted at a renewed coalition with HDZ during his post-election speech, aired live by HRT on Sunday night. Petrov, however, stated that both HDZ and SDP have five days to decide whether they are willing to meet MOST's conditions, which serve as a prerequisite to a coalition.
Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic's party secured two seats, while the Living Wall performed better than expected, winning eight seats in parliament.
The Living Wall has reiterated that it is not interested in entering a government coalition with either major party, having aimed at securing enough votes to form a coalition without the two major game players. Bandic, on the other hand, is likely to be approached by HDZ which has said it will aim to form a stable coalition with well over a majority of seats in parliament.
Zoran Milanovic, SDP leader, expressed his disappointment on Sunday night. "This is a sad day for Croatia", Milanovic said in his address to the media, also aired live. He added the Croatia must, at this moment, be put above personal careers and vanity, with analysts suggesting that Milanovic is ready to put his differences with HDZ aside and form a grand coalition.
HDZ leader, Andrej Plenkovic, however said that his party is open to collaborate with those who have similar programmatic and ideological terms.
In last year's parliamentary elections, SDP and HDZ secured 56 and 59 seats, respectively, while MOST, a relative newcomer to the scene, won 19.
Following consultations with Croatia's largest political forces, MOST formed a government with the HDZ-led Patriotic Coalition and appointed businessman Tihomir Oreskovic as prime minister. However, the government crumbled in June when Oreskovic lost a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The parliamentary parties were given 30 days to gather a new majority, but deteriorating relations between MOST and HDZ led to the dissolution of parliament in July, paving the way for early elections.
Voter turnout was 52.59% on Sunday, some 10% less then in the previous vote in November.