The State Election Commission (DIP) on Monday released the first complete results from Croatia's election for its deputies to the European Parliament, held on Sunday, and according to the latest report from DIP, the slate of the coalition led by the strongest opposition party -- the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) -- which also includes candidates of the Croatian Party of Rights Dr Ante Starcevic (HSP AS) and the BUZ pensioners' party, won 32.8% of the ballots cast. It is followed by the coalition consisting of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Croatian People's Party (HNS) and the Croatian Pensioners' Party (HSU) with 32.07% and also the Croatian Labour Party also managed to pass the 5% threshold, winning 5.77% of the vote.
Croatia will have 12 deputies in the EP upon its entry in the bloc on 1 July until the next regular election for MEPs in the spring of 2014.
According to the outcome of Sunday's vote, 6 seats allocated for Croatian MEPs were won by the HDZ-HSP AS-BUZ slate, which mustered 243,654 ballots, and its representatives to the EP will be: Ruza Tomasic, the HSP AS leader who won the highest number of the preferential votes given to that slate, and HDZ members Andrej Plenkovic, Dubravka Suica, Davor Ivo Stier, Ivana Maletic and Zdravka Busic.
The SDP-HNS-HSU slate, which mustered 237,778 ballots, won five seats and will be represented by SDP members Tonino Picula, Biljana Borzan, Mario Baldini, Oleg Valjalo and Sandra Petrovic Jakovina.
The Labour Party will have one deputy and it is Nikola Vuljanic after this party gained 42,750 ballots.
The turnout was 20.83%, which means that 780,980 voters out of a total of 3.7 million eligible voters went to the polls in Croatia and abroad for the first election of Croatian MEPs.
There was 5.07% of invalid ballots, that is a total of 39,572 ballots.
During today's news conference, DIP President Branko Hrvatin said that the ethics commission would deal with complaints about the HDZ having used public premises for the purposes of its campaigning in the run-up to the Sunday's vote.
Today's publication of the first complete results marks the start of a 48-hour deadline for appeals against what appellants may find to have been possible irregularities in the procedure of the voting.
The final verified results are expected to be made public by the noon of 21 April.
