Croatia’s president on Monday called a parliamentary election for November 8, a vote expected to be a tight race as the EU member grapples with a migrant influx and a weak economy. The polls will pit the current centre-left government, led by the Social Democrats (SDP), against the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party. The announcement comes as the former Yugoslav republic struggles to cope with the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants, who have been travelling through the country since mid-September in the hope of reaching western Europe. “I have decided that parliamentary elections will be held on Sunday, November 8,” said a statement from President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who was elected Croatia’s first female president in January.
Grabar-Kitarovic’s victory in a run-off vote, in which she defeated her left-wing predecessor Ivo Josipovic, was seen as a major boost for her HDZ party, which has been leading opinion polls for over a year.
But the latest showed the HDZ just one percent ahead of the ruling coalition, which came to power in December 2011 with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic pledging economic recovery.
Croatia, the most recent entrant to the European Union, remains one of the weakest economies in the 28-nation bloc.
Full Article: Croatia calls election for early November – Yahoo News UK.