Croatia holds parliamentary elections

BELGRADE, Serbia

Voters in Croatia are heading to the polls early Wednesday for general elections to choose new members of its 151-seat national assembly.

Polling stations in the newest member of the European Union will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time (0500GMT-1700GMT) for some 3.73 million registered voters and over 222,000 voters living abroad.

Voting began on Tuesday for those outside the country and will continue until 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

The State Election Commission said 2,302 candidates are competing for seats in parliament, with 42% of them women.

The unofficial first election results will be announced around midnight Wednesday.

The ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is the favorite to pick up the most seats, according to surveys.

President Zoran Milanovic is among the candidates of the Rivers of Justice coalition, despite a Constitutional Court ruling that he should resign from the presidency in order to run for parliament.

Milanovic, whose candidacy in the general elections caused controversy, said he would resign if he is elected to parliament.

Many argue that Milanovic wants to prevent Croatian voters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where there will be no election holiday, from voting for HDZ by holding the elections during the work week instead of Sunday.

If Milanovic wins a seat in parliament and resigns from the presidency, the president of the Croatian Parliament or the vice president must assume his post.

The party or coalition that will form the new government must have at least 76 MPs.

Also, 140 of the 151 deputies will be elected from constituencies within the country, three from the Croatian diaspora, and eight from minority parties.

Croatian general elections are held every four years.

HDZ won the last general elections in 2020.