Zagreb, Apr 18 (IANS): The ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, won most seats in the parliamentary elections a day before, but failed to obtain enough seats to form a government independently.

After more than 90 per cent 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 (SEC) early Thursday morning.

Following behind is the alliance of parties led by the centre-left Croatian Social Democratic Party (SDP) with 42 seats, trailed by the Homeland Movement with 14 seats, according to the SEC as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

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

In a statement, 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, said 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 realised.

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.