Croatian parliamentary elections 2015: expert reactions

Croatia held parliamentary elections on 8 November, with the two mainstream coalitions, headed by the centre-left SDP and centre-right HDZ, ending in a virtual dead heat. The HDZ’s Patriotic coalition secured 59 seats, including 3 seats representing the Croatian diaspora, while the SDP’s Croatia Grows coalition reached 56, while also being able to count on 3 seats pledged to them by a regional party, IDS. The elections also saw the rise of a strong third contender, Most Nezavisnih Lista (Bridge of Independent Lists), who secured 19 seats and could act as potential kingmakers in coalition negotiations. We asked five experts for their reactions to the result and their views on what might happen next. Krešimir Macan: Over the next week, the HDZ will try everything to win over Most’s candidates one by one Will Bartlett: Croatia’s economy needs a radical change if it wants to avoid six more years of stagnation Senada Selo Sabic: Counter-intuitively, the refugee crisis did not benefit the centre-right coalition Nina Branković: If the right-wing coalition prevails, calls for a third entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina will intensify Nikola Mihajlović: Croats in Serbia are not represented in the Sabor