The choice of 17 April as the date for the parliamentary elections is interesting and unexpected, but also positive as it could contribute to a higher voter turnout, the coordinator of the opposition party Mozemo, Sandra Bencic, said on Friday.

Everyone is surprised because we have never had a situation where a working day became a non-working day because of an election, even though the constitution allows it, she told the Croatian news agency Hina.

The Mozemo party is ready for the election, it has a platform and enough time to get its messages out to voters, she said. “We expected in June last year that the election would take place in mid-April, and we organised ourselves accordingly.”

The situation is ripe for the election and the “removal” of the HDZ from power, Bencic said.

“People are bitter about everything that has happened recently, from corruption, scandals to the election of Ivan Turudic (as State Attorney-General), which was the last straw. We think that it is good to go into the election campaign on this wave and that this wave will replace the HDZ.”