The regular City of Zagreb local elections were then held in April 1997. This time the opposition parties did not form a coalition and decided to run on separate tickets, allowing HDZ to win 24 out of 50 seats. When two representatives of the centre-right Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) switched to HDZ in exchange for lucrative government posts in the immediate aftermath of the election, HDZ finally gained an absolute majority in the municipal assembly. This enabled the party to legally appoint Marina Matulović-Dropulić as mayor, who was then confirmed by Tuđman. This formally ended the crisis.