ZAGREB, - The ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, won most seats in the parliamentary elections on Wednesday, but failed to obtain enough seats to form a government independently.

After over 90 percent of the votes have been counted, the HDZ secured 60 seats, but fell short of the 76 seats required to form a government, showed preliminary results published by the State Election Commission early Thursday morning.

The commission said turnout on Wednesday was 61.83 percent.

The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had hoped to ride the long-term support it has for overseeing Croatia's accession to the EU, the introduction of the euro and a boom in tourists visiting the Adriatic coastline

Following behind is the alliance of parties led by the center-left Croatian Social Democratic Party (SDP) with 42 seats, trailed by the Homeland Movement with 14 seats, according to the election commission.

The Homeland Movement could emerge as kingmaker, although publicly it has not said which party - if any - it will back.

The HDZ had hoped to ride the long-term support it has for overseeing Croatia's accession to the EU, the introduction of the euro and a boom in tourists visiting the Adriatic coastline.

The opposition SDP had hoped for a better result, its leader Pedja Grbin said.

"It is not over. Days, weeks and perhaps months of talks are ahead of us and they will result in the change that will make Croatia a better place. We will start talks as of tomorrow," he said.

The We Can Party has proposed that all the opposition parties get united to form a minority government and therefore oust the HDZ from power. It remains to be seen whether it can be realized

Meanwhile, the Bridge Party and We Can Party ranked fourth and fifth with 11 and 10 seats respectively, the election commission said.

In a statement, Prime Minister Plenkovic said that for the third time in a row, the HDZ has won the Croatian parliamentary elections. From Thursday, the HDZ will start negotiating with other partners to form a new government, according to the statement.

However, the We Can Party has proposed that all the opposition parties get united to form a minority government and therefore oust the HDZ from power. It remains to be seen whether it can be realized.

The Croatian parliament has a unicameral system with 151 seats and a four-year term. The preceding parliament, formed in July 2020, was dissolved on March 14.

With Reuters input