Exit poll: Croatia's ruling conservatives win big in vote

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia's ruling conservatives have a strong lead over their main center-left rivals at a parliamentary election Sunday held amid a spike in the new coronavirus cases, according to an exit poll.

The governing Croatian Democratic Union is projected to win 61 seats in Croatia's 151-seat parliament, according to the Ipsos polling agency's unofficial vote count carried by Croatia's national broadcaster HRT.

An alliance led by the liberal Social Democratic Party won 44 seats while in third place is the right-wing Homeland Movement led by folk singer Miroslav Skoro with 16 seats.

If confirmed in the official tally expected later Sunday, the exit poll projections would mean that the ruling conservatives are likely to form a new government with a help of a few votes from some of the smaller parties, probably pushing the European Union member state further to the right.

The Homeland Movement was recently formed and swiftly gained popularity despite public outrage over some of its staunchly hard-line and nationalist views. The party is believed to have chipped away votes from HDZ, which has dominated the political scene in Croatia since independence in 1991.

Croatia has faced a surge in coronavirus cases that followed reopening of the country's borders and easing of lockdown rules, struggling to salvage its main source of revenue — tourism along the Adriatic Sea coast.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who is HDZ leader, said upon voting on Sunday that anti-virus recommendations are being respected and urged people to come out to vote.

“Democracy means that citizens get to have their say, and today is such a moment when we all get to meet the will of the people," Plenkovic said. “I’m looking forward to the choice made by our citizens and also to...