Croatian People's Party (HNS) vice president Radimir Cacic said on Sunday night that if the election results stayed as they were now, with the opposition coalition Kukuriku winning the majority in parliament, he would be the new deputy prime minister, as stated in the coalition's agreement.
Cacic told the press the State Election Commission's results, currently giving Kukuriku 79 seats in parliament and the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) 46, "confirm the exit polls and that the election result will be within this frame."
He said that in all democratic systems, the strength of the election result and victory was related to the depth of the crisis in the country. "In that sense, we have no great reason for euphoria."
Asked how much time the coalition would need upon forming the government to scan the state of affairs in the country, Cacic said the coalition was roughly aware of the situation and that it would use the next two to three months to draw up the state budget for 2012.
The coalition will continue to analyse the situation to see what the outstanding items and Croatia's contractual commitments are, he added.
Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) president Ivan Jakovcic said the coalition's victory was already evident. "The huge number of votes we received also means great trust and now, based on this confidence, we have to assume responsibility."
He voiced confidence the new government would know how to do that in the best possible way and that over the next four years, "something will finally happen that will bring hope to everyone in Croatia."
Croatian Pensioners Party president Silvano Hrelja said exit polls were 90 per cent accurate and that the eventual Kukuriku-HDZ ratio would not change significantly.
He expects the seventh parliament to be inaugurated by year's end and the new government to be formed, which he said would have to define its first priorities and start adopting decisions through parliament within the first three weeks in office.
The coalition's independent candidate Josip Kregar said the exit poll results were outstanding, as no one could have predicted that the difference in the number of seats won by Kukuriku and the HDZ would be so big.
Such a big parliamentary majority makes it possible to carry out deeper and stronger changes in the country, he said.
Asked what the coalition owed such success to, he said this election was primarily about voting against, adding that a strong coalition was formed before the election, avoiding post-election agreements, and that everyone in Croatia bore witness to how much citizens wanted a change of government.
"That decided the election, and not electioneering and billboards," said Kregar.
