January 10 (SeeNews) - Croatia's 2020 parliamentary elections will take place by the end of September or the beginning of October, deputy prime minister Predrag Stromar has said.
Stromar made the announcement to journalists in Zagreb ahead of Thursday's regular cabinet meeting. A video file with his statement was uploaded on the website of public broadcaster HRT.
According to December opinion polls, the lead of governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) ahead of opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) has been diminishing. The distance between the two main parties has probably become even smaller after SDP's candidate and former prime minister Zoran Milanovic won the January 5 presidential runoff vote, ousting incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic supported by HDZ.
According to the latest opinion polls, two more parties are expected to pass the 5% election threshold - the independent alliance around former judge Mislav Kolakusic, NLMK, and centre-right Bridge of Independent Lists (Most).