The 2020 croatian parliamentary elections

After a comparatively mild first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Croatia held parliamentary elections in July 2020. The incumbent Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) obtained a sufficiently good result to allow them to form a governing coalition with some small parties and members of parliament representing national minorities. However, increasing voter dissatisfaction with the status quo and the traditional electoral offering from the HDZ on the right and the SDP-led bloc on the left can be discerned in the record low turnout and the highest share of the vote for parties challenging the status quo so far. All this, as well as the results of the presidential and European Parliament elections, indicate that the party system is far from stable. This article offers context and explanations about the elections that are important for understanding what they mean and what the future might have in store for the Croatian party system. © 2021, Universitatae din Bucuresti. All rights reserved.