Croatia parliament to dissolve ahead election: PM

• It means the vote can be called on a Sunday between June 21 and July 12.
• Parliamentary elections are called by the president within 30 to 60 days after dissolution of the assembly.
• It has since detected 2,221 infections and 94 deaths from the virus.

ZAGREB: Croatia's parliament will dissolve next week enabling parliamentary vote in late June or early July, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said Thursday as his HDZ party hopes to capitalise on successful containing of the novel coronavirus.

"It was decided that we propose to the parliament to dissolve on Monday," Plenkovic told reporters after a meeting of the ruling coalition led by his conservative HDZ party.

"The timing is appropriate."

Parliamentary elections are called by the president within 30 to 60 days after dissolution of the assembly.

It means the vote can be called on a Sunday between June 21 and July 12.

Plenkovic took over as prime minister in October 2016, following a snap vote.

Regular elections were due by the end of the year.

Analysts say the conservative HDZ wants to hold them as soon as possible as the government was succesful in containing the spread of the novel virus.

That led to a rise in the popularity of the party, which leads opinion polls.

Also, a second wave of the disease is feared in the autumn when the expected economic consequences of the pandemic could hamper HDZ's popularity.

Croatia's tourism-reliant economy is expected to shrink by 9.4 percent this year due to the coronavirus, in what would be the biggest contraction since independence, the prime minister said earlier this month.

"Taking into account all challenges ahead Croatia, the mandate of a new parliament and government should focus on the economic recovery of the country," Plenkovic stressed Thursday.

Croatia, which has a population of 4.2 million, registered its first case of the COVID-19 disease in late February.

It has since detected 2,221 infections and 94 deaths from the virus.