Social Democratic Party of Croatia
Encyclopedia
Social Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska partija or SDP for short), is the largest centre-left
political party in Croatia
. In the most recent 2007 election
SDP won 56 out of 153 seats in the Parliament of Croatia
which makes it the biggest opposition
party in the country.
(SKH), the regional branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(SKJ).
SKH delegation led by Ivica Račan
, along with their Slovenia
n counterparts, had abandoned the 14th congress of SKJ in January 1990 following a dispute with the Serbian delegation led by Slobodan Milošević
over how SFR Yugoslavia
should be reorganized.
At the same time Croatia was preparing for its first multi-party election following the decision made by SKH in December 1989 which envisioned elections in April and May 1990. In February 1990 the SR Croatia parliament adopted amendments to the constitution which enabled a multi-party system. That same month SKH had rebranded themselves as the "Party of Democratic Reform" (Stranka demokratskih promjena or SDP) and went on to run in the 1990 election
as SKH-SDP, coming in second behind the Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) with 26 percent of votes and a total of 107 seats in the 351-seat parliament.
On 3 November 1990 the party in its current form was officially established, by dropping the initialism SKH from its name. In the August 1992 election, the first election held according to the new Constitution of Croatia
which had been adopted in the meantime, SDP won 5.52 percent of the popular vote and a total of 11 seats in the 138-seat parliament. In 1993 the party re-branded themselves again and changed their name to "Social Democratic Party" (Socijaldemokratska partija), the name they kept to this day.
In early 1994 a group of prominent members including Ivan Šiber, Stjepan Ivanišević, Ivo Družić, Vjeran Zuppa, Ivan Matija and Ivo Josipović
left the party after expressing disagreement with the party's main committee.
. The party founders included many prominent intellectuals, including Antun Vujić
and Miroslav Tuđman
.
This party claimed that it was continuing tradition of the historical Social Democratic Party of Croatia, created in 1894 and merged in 1919 into the Communist Party of Yugoslavia
.
In the first parliamentary elections in 1990, SDSH joined the centrist Coalition of People's Accord
and fared badly, winning only a handful of seats. However, its position was strong enough to warrant ministerial posts in the national unity government of Franjo Gregurić
which was in power from July 1991 to August 1992. However, its two ministers Bosiljko Mišetić and Zvonimir Baletić defected to the conservative
Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) soon after their appointment.
Before the 1992 parliamentary and presidential elections, SDSH was involved in bitter dispute with the SDP over its rebranding into the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. SDSH claimed that its name was stolen. The election showed SDP to be much stronger party than SDSH, which failed to win parliament seats. At the same time, SDSH leader Antun Vujić
finished last in the 1992 presidential race
, winning a meagre 0.7 percent of the vote. This ultimately led to SDSH and SDP patching their differences and former being incorporated into the latter in April 1994.
In the following 1995 election
, SDP won 8.93 percent of the popular vote and a total of 10 seats in the parliament, coming in fourth behind the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Croatian Peasant Party
(HSS) and the Croatian Social Liberal Party
(HSLS).
signed a coalition agreement and proceeded to run together in the January 2000 parliamentary elections
. The SDP-HSLS coalition won the election with 38.7 percent of the vote and 71 out of 151 seats. SDP and HSLS then formed a six-way centre-left
coalition government along with the Croatian Peasant Party
(HSS), the Liberal Party
(LS), Croatian People's Party (HNS), and the Istrian Democratic Assembly
(IDS). Račan, as the leader of the strongest party, became Prime Minister in the first Račan cabinet
. This period was marred with constant disagreements among coalition members on various issues.
Račan had initially offered the post of Speaker of Parliament to Budiša, but Budiša declined hoping to win the upcoming 2000 presidential election
. Following Budiša's defeat to Stjepan Mesić
in February 2000, Budiša continued to serve as member of parliament. In July 2001 he opposed Račan government's decision to extradite Croatian army generals to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) which caused considerable turmoil within HSLS.
In June 2001 the Istria
n regionalist party IDS withdrew from the coalition government and its chairman Ivan Jakovčić
resigned his post as Minister of European Integration, citing criticism of the way they governed Istria on the regional level which had been coming from other parties within the ruling coalition. The uneasy coalition finally broke apart in early July 2002 when Račan formally handed in his resignation following HSLS refusal to support the agreement made with Slovenia
concerning the two countries' joint control of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant
.
In late July 2002 the second Račan cabinet was formed
, with members of the remaining four parties of the original coalition (following the departure of IDS and HSLS) plus two minor liberal parties which had splintered from HSLS, the Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party
(LS). This cabinet remained in power until the next elections in November 2003
. SDP then ran in the 2003 election as part of a coalition with IDS, Libra and LS, but was defeated by the conservative HDZ. The SDP thus returned to opposition with the coalition winning 43 out of 151 seats in the parliament (34 of which held by SDP).
The January 2000 election win and the defeat of the ruling HDZ was seen as a turning point as it marked the first transition of power in Croatia's young democracy and upon coming into power Račan's government was seen as the country's first staunchly pro-Western government following a decade of the "authoritarian and nationalist rule" of late President Franjo Tuđman. During its term, the country signed a pre-membership agreement with the European Union
, which paved the way for the formal opening of membership negotiations in October 2006. Although the six-party coalition government made a clear break from the former regime, it nevertheless failed to handle the growing social problems, unemployment and economic difficulties. Račan struggled to contain factional disputes within the coalition and appeared indecisive in dealing with Western demands to hand over war crimes suspects to the ICTY, as well as with with extremists at home who vehemently opposed such extraditions.
SDP opted to support independent incumbent
Stjepan Mesić, who succeeded in winning his second term by an overwhelming majority of 65.9 percent of the vote in the run-off in front of HDZ candidate and runner-up Jadranka Kosor
with 34.1 percent. In 2007 the party was dealt a blow due to the death of their long-time leader and founder Ivica Račan, who died on 30 April due to complications from his previously treated kidney cancer
, after he stepped down from his chairman post earlier that month. In a extraordinary party convention former party spokesman Zoran Milanović
was elected as their new leader, beating acting chairwoman and former defence minister Željka Antunović
in the party election run-off. Other prominent candidates for the post were Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić
and former foreign minister Tonino Picula
.
For the November 2007 parliamentary election
SDP ran on an economic program devised by the previously non-partisan economist Ljubo Jurčić
, who was also picked to be the party's candidate for the post of Prime Minister in case of their election victory at a party meeting in July 2007. In the election of 25 November SDP finished a close second behind HDZ, with 56 out of 153 seats. It might have won the domestic election, but as SDP doesn't participate in diaspora
constituency, it lost in the overall tally. Five days after the election, amid speculations that SDP might assemble a governing coalition in spite of them failing to win outright majority, he was replaced in that role by Zoran Milanović. Nevertheless, SDP failed to assemble a governing coalition, and positioned itself as the largest opposition party instead.
In the subsequent June 2009 local elections
, the party failed to make significant gains on the county
level, but still managed to achieve some major wins in important cities, due to the adoption of a new election system where mayors and county heads were for the first time elected directly, as opposed to the previous system which employed party lists. SDP recorded mayoral victories in a number of traditionally centre-right leaning coastal cities such as Dubrovnik
, Šibenik
and Trogir
and also managed to win in Vukovar
, a city that had been almost destroyed in the Croatian War of Independence
and was regarded as HDZ stronghold ever since. They also manage to retain control of the economically most powerful parts of the country, including the capital Zagreb, the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka
and also won in Istria
(in coalition with IDS).
In the run up to the 2009–10 presidential race, SDP held a primary election
for the very first time, in which party nominees Ljubo Jurčić
and Ivo Josipović
ran. Josipović won the primary by some two thirds of the vote. Josipović later won the 2009–10 election with 60 percent of the vote in the second round in front of former SDP member and populist Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić
and was officially inaugurated on 18 February 2010.
In 2010 SDP formed a political alliance
known as the Kukuriku coalition (lit. "Cock-a-doodle-doo Coalition") with three other centre-left parties (Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS), Istrian Democratic Assembly
(IDS) and the Croatian Party of Pensioners
(HSU)), with the aim of running in the December 2011 parliamentary election. The coalition unveiled their 21-point election program on 15 September 2011 in Zagreb.
, who was elected in a party convention on 2 June 2007 following Račan's death. Apart from the president and two vice-presidents (currently MPs Zlatko Komadina
and Milanka Opačić
), the main governing bodies of the party include the party presidency (consisting of six senior members), the head committee (glavni odbor) and the supervisory committee (nadzorni odbor).
Like all other parties SDP runs local chapters at municipal
, city and county
levels. It also runs three topical groups - the Youth Forum (Forum mladih), Women's Forum (Socijaldemokratski forum žena) and a Seniors' Forum (Socijaldemokratski forum seniora).
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
political party in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. In the most recent 2007 election
Croatian parliamentary election, 2007
Parliamentary elections to the Croatian Parliament were held on 25 November 2007 in Croatia and on 24 November and 25 November 2007 abroad. The campaign officially started on 3 November...
SDP won 56 out of 153 seats in the Parliament of Croatia
Parliament of Croatia
The Parliament of Croatia or the Sabor is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and legislature of the country. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, represents the people and is vested with the legislative power...
which makes it the biggest opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
party in the country.
Early 1990s
The party was established in November 1990 by the social democratic faction of the former League of Communists of CroatiaLeague of Communists of Croatia
League of Communists of Croatia was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia . Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia .- History :...
(SKH), the regional branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
(SKJ).
SKH delegation led by Ivica Račan
Ivica Racan
Ivica Račan was a Croatian career politician, leader of the League of Communists of Croatia and later Social Democratic Party from 1989 to 2007...
, along with their Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n counterparts, had abandoned the 14th congress of SKJ in January 1990 following a dispute with the Serbian delegation led by Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
over how SFR Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
should be reorganized.
At the same time Croatia was preparing for its first multi-party election following the decision made by SKH in December 1989 which envisioned elections in April and May 1990. In February 1990 the SR Croatia parliament adopted amendments to the constitution which enabled a multi-party system. That same month SKH had rebranded themselves as the "Party of Democratic Reform" (Stranka demokratskih promjena or SDP) and went on to run in the 1990 election
Croatian parliamentary election, 1990
Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 22 April 1990, with a second round of voting on 6 May. The first free elections since multi-party politics were introduced, they resulted in a victory for the Croatian Democratic Union, which won 55 of the 80 seats...
as SKH-SDP, coming in second behind the Croatian Democratic Union
Croatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...
(HDZ) with 26 percent of votes and a total of 107 seats in the 351-seat parliament.
On 3 November 1990 the party in its current form was officially established, by dropping the initialism SKH from its name. In the August 1992 election, the first election held according to the new Constitution of Croatia
Constitution of Croatia
The current Constitution of the Republic of Croatia was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia on December 22, 1990. It replaced the Constitution of 1974 ratified in socialist Yugoslavia...
which had been adopted in the meantime, SDP won 5.52 percent of the popular vote and a total of 11 seats in the 138-seat parliament. In 1993 the party re-branded themselves again and changed their name to "Social Democratic Party" (Socijaldemokratska partija), the name they kept to this day.
In early 1994 a group of prominent members including Ivan Šiber, Stjepan Ivanišević, Ivo Družić, Vjeran Zuppa, Ivan Matija and Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović is a Croatian politician who has been President of Croatia since 2010. Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia , and played a key role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the SDP that replaced the...
left the party after expressing disagreement with the party's main committee.
Merger with SDH
In 1990, a parallel Social Democratic Party of Croatia was founded. It was later renamed to the Social Democrats of Croatia (Socijaldemokrati Hrvatske, SDH). Like most parties created at the time, it was opposed to the communist government and wanted Croatia to secede from Yugoslavia, yet it had the distinction of being one of the few to present itself as left-wingLeft-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
. The party founders included many prominent intellectuals, including Antun Vujić
Antun Vujic
Antun Vujić is a Croatian politician, philosopher, political analyst and lexicographer, currently member of Croatian Parliament and formerly Minister of Culture in the Croatian Government .-Overview:Vujić graduated from the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Philosophy Antun Vujić (born in...
and Miroslav Tuđman
Miroslav Tuđman
Miroslav Tuđman is a Croatian scientist and politician, the son of first president Franjo Tuđman.Tuđman was born in Belgrade where he completed grade school, before he moved with his family to Zagreb in 1961.He was born on his parents 1st anniversary...
.
This party claimed that it was continuing tradition of the historical Social Democratic Party of Croatia, created in 1894 and merged in 1919 into the Communist Party of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
.
In the first parliamentary elections in 1990, SDSH joined the centrist Coalition of People's Accord
Coalition of People's Accord
Coalition of People's Accord was the bloc of mostly moderate nationalist and liberal parties formed on the eve of first multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990....
and fared badly, winning only a handful of seats. However, its position was strong enough to warrant ministerial posts in the national unity government of Franjo Gregurić
Franjo Greguric
Franjo Gregurić is a Croatian politician who served as prime minister of Croatia from July 1991 to September 1992.Gregurić was born in the Zagorje village of Lobor. He attended the Technical highschool in Zagreb, and then the Technical Faculty of the University of Zagreb...
which was in power from July 1991 to August 1992. However, its two ministers Bosiljko Mišetić and Zvonimir Baletić defected to the conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
Croatian Democratic Union
Croatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...
(HDZ) soon after their appointment.
Before the 1992 parliamentary and presidential elections, SDSH was involved in bitter dispute with the SDP over its rebranding into the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. SDSH claimed that its name was stolen. The election showed SDP to be much stronger party than SDSH, which failed to win parliament seats. At the same time, SDSH leader Antun Vujić
Antun Vujic
Antun Vujić is a Croatian politician, philosopher, political analyst and lexicographer, currently member of Croatian Parliament and formerly Minister of Culture in the Croatian Government .-Overview:Vujić graduated from the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Philosophy Antun Vujić (born in...
finished last in the 1992 presidential race
Croatian presidential election, 1992
Presidential elections were held in Croatia for the first time on 2 August 1992 alongside simultaneous parliamentary elections. The result was a victory for Franjo Tuđman of the Croatian Democratic Union , who received 57.8% of the vote...
, winning a meagre 0.7 percent of the vote. This ultimately led to SDSH and SDP patching their differences and former being incorporated into the latter in April 1994.
In the following 1995 election
Croatian parliamentary election, 1995
-Subsequent changes:The following changes happened after elections:*The Croatian Pure Party of Rights gained one member of parliament*The Croatian Christian Democratic Union gained one more member of parliament*The Serb People's Party lost one member of parliament...
, SDP won 8.93 percent of the popular vote and a total of 10 seats in the parliament, coming in fourth behind the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Croatian Peasant Party
Croatian Peasant Party
The Croatian Peasant Party is a center and socially conservative political party in Croatia.-Austria-Hungary:The Croatian People's Peasant Party was formed on December 22, 1904 by Antun Radić along with his brother Stjepan Radić. The party contested elections for the first time in the Kingdom of...
(HSS) and the Croatian Social Liberal Party
Croatian Social Liberal Party
Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was...
(HSLS).
2000–2003 government
In August 1998 SDP and HSLS leaders Ivica Račan and Dražen BudišaDražen Budiša
Dražen Budiša is a Croatian politician who used to be leading opposition figure in the 1990s and a two-time presidential candidate.-During Yugoslavia:...
signed a coalition agreement and proceeded to run together in the January 2000 parliamentary elections
Croatian parliamentary election, 2000
Elections for the Chamber of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament were held on January 3, 2000. These were the first elections to be held after the expiration of a full term of the previous Chamber....
. The SDP-HSLS coalition won the election with 38.7 percent of the vote and 71 out of 151 seats. SDP and HSLS then formed a six-way centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
coalition government along with the Croatian Peasant Party
Croatian Peasant Party
The Croatian Peasant Party is a center and socially conservative political party in Croatia.-Austria-Hungary:The Croatian People's Peasant Party was formed on December 22, 1904 by Antun Radić along with his brother Stjepan Radić. The party contested elections for the first time in the Kingdom of...
(HSS), the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Croatia)
Liberal Party was a Croatian political party active between January 1998 and April 2006. During its existence the party ran in two general elections and in each election won two seats in the 151-seat Sabor. LS was a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
(LS), Croatian People's Party (HNS), and the Istrian Democratic Assembly
Istrian Democratic Assembly
The Istrian Democratic Assembly is a Croatian regional and social liberal political party in Istria. The hyphenated abbreviation IDS-DDI is most commonly used....
(IDS). Račan, as the leader of the strongest party, became Prime Minister in the first Račan cabinet
Cabinet of Ivica Račan I
The first Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivica Račan was the Croatian Government cabinet announced on 27 January 2000. It was the 7th cabinet of Croatia, and its term ended on 30 July 2002, when it was reconstructed and replaced by Cabinet of Ivica Račan II...
. This period was marred with constant disagreements among coalition members on various issues.
Račan had initially offered the post of Speaker of Parliament to Budiša, but Budiša declined hoping to win the upcoming 2000 presidential election
Croatian presidential election, 2000
Presidential elections were held in Croatia on 24 January 2000. As no candidate passed the 50% threshold, a secound round was held on 7 February, the first time a second round had been required in the country's history. The result was a victory for Stjepan Mesić of the Croatian People's Party, who...
. Following Budiša's defeat to Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian politician and former President of Croatia. Before his ten-year presidential term between 2000 and 2010 he held the posts of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament , Prime Minister of Croatia , the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Secretary General...
in February 2000, Budiša continued to serve as member of parliament. In July 2001 he opposed Račan government's decision to extradite Croatian army generals to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
(ICTY) which caused considerable turmoil within HSLS.
In June 2001 the Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n regionalist party IDS withdrew from the coalition government and its chairman Ivan Jakovčić
Ivan Jakovčić
Ivan Jakovčić is a Croatian politician and current head of the Istria County in Croatia.-Political career:...
resigned his post as Minister of European Integration, citing criticism of the way they governed Istria on the regional level which had been coming from other parties within the ruling coalition. The uneasy coalition finally broke apart in early July 2002 when Račan formally handed in his resignation following HSLS refusal to support the agreement made with Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
concerning the two countries' joint control of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant
Krško Nuclear Power Plant
The Krško Nuclear Power Plant is located in Krško, Slovenia. The plant was connected to the power grid on October 2, 1981 and went into commercial operation on January 15, 1983...
.
In late July 2002 the second Račan cabinet was formed
Cabinet of Ivica Račan II
The second Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivica Račan was the Croatian Government cabinet announced on 30 July 2002. It was the 8th cabinet of Croatia, and its term ended on 23 December 2003. Račan's second cabinet was formed after Croatian Social Liberal Party and Istrian Democratic Assembly had...
, with members of the remaining four parties of the original coalition (following the departure of IDS and HSLS) plus two minor liberal parties which had splintered from HSLS, the Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Croatia)
Liberal Party was a Croatian political party active between January 1998 and April 2006. During its existence the party ran in two general elections and in each election won two seats in the 151-seat Sabor. LS was a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
(LS). This cabinet remained in power until the next elections in November 2003
Croatian parliamentary election, 2003
-External links:*...
. SDP then ran in the 2003 election as part of a coalition with IDS, Libra and LS, but was defeated by the conservative HDZ. The SDP thus returned to opposition with the coalition winning 43 out of 151 seats in the parliament (34 of which held by SDP).
The January 2000 election win and the defeat of the ruling HDZ was seen as a turning point as it marked the first transition of power in Croatia's young democracy and upon coming into power Račan's government was seen as the country's first staunchly pro-Western government following a decade of the "authoritarian and nationalist rule" of late President Franjo Tuđman. During its term, the country signed a pre-membership agreement with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, which paved the way for the formal opening of membership negotiations in October 2006. Although the six-party coalition government made a clear break from the former regime, it nevertheless failed to handle the growing social problems, unemployment and economic difficulties. Račan struggled to contain factional disputes within the coalition and appeared indecisive in dealing with Western demands to hand over war crimes suspects to the ICTY, as well as with with extremists at home who vehemently opposed such extraditions.
Opposition since 2004
In the 2005 presidential raceCroatian presidential election, 2005
The fourth presidential elections in Croatia took place in two rounds in January 2005.-Background:The State Elections Committee published a list of candidates on 15 December 2004. President Stjepan Mesić stood for re-election, and the governing HDZ nominated cabinet minister Jadranka Kosor...
SDP opted to support independent incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Stjepan Mesić, who succeeded in winning his second term by an overwhelming majority of 65.9 percent of the vote in the run-off in front of HDZ candidate and runner-up Jadranka Kosor
Jadranka Kosor
Jadranka Kosor is a Croatian politician and former journalist. She is the current Prime Minister of Croatia, having taken office on July 6, 2009, following the sudden resignation of her predecessor Ivo Sanader. She is Croatia's first female Prime Minister since independence.-Early life:Jadranka...
with 34.1 percent. In 2007 the party was dealt a blow due to the death of their long-time leader and founder Ivica Račan, who died on 30 April due to complications from his previously treated kidney cancer
Kidney cancer
Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells in the kidney.The two most common types of kidney cancer are renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis...
, after he stepped down from his chairman post earlier that month. In a extraordinary party convention former party spokesman Zoran Milanović
Zoran Milanovic
Zoran Milanović is a Croatian politician, leader of the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Croatia , the main opposition party.- Early life :...
was elected as their new leader, beating acting chairwoman and former defence minister Željka Antunović
Željka Antunovic
Željka Antunović is a Croatian centre-left politician and the deputy president of the Social Democratic Party , the largest opposition party in Croatia.Antunović was born in Virovitica, Croatia, then SFR Yugoslavia...
in the party election run-off. Other prominent candidates for the post were Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić
Milan Bandic
Milan Bandić is an influential Croatian politician currently serving his fourth term as mayor of Croatia's capital, Zagreb. Between 2000 and 2009, he was a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia . In 2007, he unsuccessfully ran for party president. However, he remained one of...
and former foreign minister Tonino Picula
Tonino Picula
Tonino Picula is a Croatian politician of the left-oriented Social Democratic Party of Croatia . He served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2003.-Early life:...
.
For the November 2007 parliamentary election
Croatian parliamentary election, 2007
Parliamentary elections to the Croatian Parliament were held on 25 November 2007 in Croatia and on 24 November and 25 November 2007 abroad. The campaign officially started on 3 November...
SDP ran on an economic program devised by the previously non-partisan economist Ljubo Jurčić
Ljubo Jurcic
Ljubo Jurčić is a Croatian economist, current president of the Croatian Association of Economists since 2006 and former Croatian Minister of the Economy ....
, who was also picked to be the party's candidate for the post of Prime Minister in case of their election victory at a party meeting in July 2007. In the election of 25 November SDP finished a close second behind HDZ, with 56 out of 153 seats. It might have won the domestic election, but as SDP doesn't participate in diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
constituency, it lost in the overall tally. Five days after the election, amid speculations that SDP might assemble a governing coalition in spite of them failing to win outright majority, he was replaced in that role by Zoran Milanović. Nevertheless, SDP failed to assemble a governing coalition, and positioned itself as the largest opposition party instead.
In the subsequent June 2009 local elections
Croatian local elections, 2009
The 2009 Croatian local elections were held on 17 May, with the second round held on 31 May where necessary.The elections were held to elect members of city councils, mayors, members of county councils and county prefects. These were the first elections in which mayors and county prefects were...
, the party failed to make significant gains on the county
Counties of Croatia
The primary territorial subdivisions of the Republic of Croatia called županije . In English they are commonly referred to as counties....
level, but still managed to achieve some major wins in important cities, due to the adoption of a new election system where mayors and county heads were for the first time elected directly, as opposed to the previous system which employed party lists. SDP recorded mayoral victories in a number of traditionally centre-right leaning coastal cities such as Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
, Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
and Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
and also managed to win in Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
, a city that had been almost destroyed in the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
and was regarded as HDZ stronghold ever since. They also manage to retain control of the economically most powerful parts of the country, including the capital Zagreb, the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
and also won in Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
(in coalition with IDS).
In the run up to the 2009–10 presidential race, SDP held a primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
for the very first time, in which party nominees Ljubo Jurčić
Ljubo Jurcic
Ljubo Jurčić is a Croatian economist, current president of the Croatian Association of Economists since 2006 and former Croatian Minister of the Economy ....
and Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović is a Croatian politician who has been President of Croatia since 2010. Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia , and played a key role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the SDP that replaced the...
ran. Josipović won the primary by some two thirds of the vote. Josipović later won the 2009–10 election with 60 percent of the vote in the second round in front of former SDP member and populist Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić
Milan Bandic
Milan Bandić is an influential Croatian politician currently serving his fourth term as mayor of Croatia's capital, Zagreb. Between 2000 and 2009, he was a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia . In 2007, he unsuccessfully ran for party president. However, he remained one of...
and was officially inaugurated on 18 February 2010.
In 2010 SDP formed a political alliance
Political coalition
A political coalition or political alliance is an agreement for cooperation between different political parties on common political agenda, often for purposes of contesting an election to mutually benefit by collectively clearing election thresholds or otherwise benefiting from characteristics of...
known as the Kukuriku coalition (lit. "Cock-a-doodle-doo Coalition") with three other centre-left parties (Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS), Istrian Democratic Assembly
Istrian Democratic Assembly
The Istrian Democratic Assembly is a Croatian regional and social liberal political party in Istria. The hyphenated abbreviation IDS-DDI is most commonly used....
(IDS) and the Croatian Party of Pensioners
Croatian Party of Pensioners
The Croatian Party of Pensioners is a Croatian political party. It is currently led by Silvano Hrelja.When the Party was founded, few people took it seriously and many commentators speculated that the ultimate purpose of HSU was take away pensioners' votes from rejuvenated SDP and thus help ruling...
(HSU)), with the aim of running in the December 2011 parliamentary election. The coalition unveiled their 21-point election program on 15 September 2011 in Zagreb.
Organisation
The party's first and longest-serving president was Ivica Račan. The current president is Zoran MilanovićZoran Milanovic
Zoran Milanović is a Croatian politician, leader of the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Croatia , the main opposition party.- Early life :...
, who was elected in a party convention on 2 June 2007 following Račan's death. Apart from the president and two vice-presidents (currently MPs Zlatko Komadina
Zlatko Komadina
Zlatko Komadina is a Croatian politician. He is the vice-president of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and the prefect of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.-References:...
and Milanka Opačić
Milanka Opačić
Milanka Opačić is a Croatian politician and the vice-president of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, the main centre-left political party in the Croatian Parliament. She was first elected to Parliament in 1992....
), the main governing bodies of the party include the party presidency (consisting of six senior members), the head committee (glavni odbor) and the supervisory committee (nadzorni odbor).
Like all other parties SDP runs local chapters at municipal
Municipalities of Croatia
A Municipality in Croatia is known as an općina . Though equal to Croatian Grads in administrative powers, they are usually more likely to consists of a collection of villages in more rural or suburban area, whereas Grads are more likely to cover urban area...
, city and county
Counties of Croatia
The primary territorial subdivisions of the Republic of Croatia called županije . In English they are commonly referred to as counties....
levels. It also runs three topical groups - the Youth Forum (Forum mladih), Women's Forum (Socijaldemokratski forum žena) and a Seniors' Forum (Socijaldemokratski forum seniora).
Legislative
The following is a summary of SDP's results in legislative elections for the Croatian parliament. The "Total votes" and "Percentage" columns include sums of votes won by pre-election coalitions SDP had been part of and the "Total seats" column includes sums of seats won by SDP in election constituencies plus representatives of ethnic minorities affiliated with SDP.| Election | |Votes won (Coalition totals) | |Total seats won (SDP only) | August 1992 | None | 145,419 | 5.52 | 11 / 138 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1995 Croatian parliamentary election, 1995 -Subsequent changes:The following changes happened after elections:*The Croatian Pure Party of Rights gained one member of parliament*The Croatian Christian Democratic Union gained one more member of parliament*The Serb People's Party lost one member of parliament... |
None | 215,839 | 8.93 | 10 / 127 | –1 | |||
| January 2000 Croatian parliamentary election, 2000 Elections for the Chamber of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament were held on January 3, 2000. These were the first elections to be held after the expiration of a full term of the previous Chamber.... |
HSLS Croatian Social Liberal Party Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was... |
1,138,318 | 38.70 | 43 / 151 | +33 | |||
| November 2003 Croatian parliamentary election, 2003 -External links:*... |
IDS Istrian Democratic Assembly The Istrian Democratic Assembly is a Croatian regional and social liberal political party in Istria. The hyphenated abbreviation IDS-DDI is most commonly used.... –Libra Libra -Science and technology:* Libra , a star constellation in the sky* Libra , an ancient Roman unit of weight* Libra , a public search engine for academic papers and literature* Libra , a media cataloguing software... –LS Liberal Party (Croatia) Liberal Party was a Croatian political party active between January 1998 and April 2006. During its existence the party ran in two general elections and in each election won two seats in the 151-seat Sabor. LS was a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party... |
560,593 | 22.60 | 34 / 151 | –9 | |||
| November 2007 Croatian parliamentary election, 2007 Parliamentary elections to the Croatian Parliament were held on 25 November 2007 in Croatia and on 24 November and 25 November 2007 abroad. The campaign officially started on 3 November... |
None | 775,690 | 31.20 | 56 / 153 | +22 | |||
| December 2011 | HNS–IDS–HSU | |||||||
Presidential
The following is a list of presidential candidates who either ran as SDP members or were endorsed by SDP.- 1997Croatian presidential election, 1997Presidential elections were held in Croatia on 15 June 1997. The result was a victory for Franjo Tuđman of the Croatian Democratic Union , who received 61.4% of the vote. Voter turnout was 54.6%.-Results:...
– Zdravko TomacZdravko TomacZdravko Tomac is a Croatian politician.A native of Slavonski Brod, Zdravko Tomac began his political career in Communist Party of Yugoslavia. There he rose through the ranks, becoming close associate of Jakov Blažević...
(SDP) (Finished second, with 21.03% of votes in the first round) - 2000Croatian presidential election, 2000Presidential elections were held in Croatia on 24 January 2000. As no candidate passed the 50% threshold, a secound round was held on 7 February, the first time a second round had been required in the country's history. The result was a victory for Stjepan Mesić of the Croatian People's Party, who...
– Dražen BudišaDražen BudišaDražen Budiša is a Croatian politician who used to be leading opposition figure in the 1990s and a two-time presidential candidate.-During Yugoslavia:...
(HSLS) (Finished second with 27.71% of votes in the first round and as runner-up in the run-off with 43.99% of votes) - 2005Croatian presidential election, 2005The fourth presidential elections in Croatia took place in two rounds in January 2005.-Background:The State Elections Committee published a list of candidates on 15 December 2004. President Stjepan Mesić stood for re-election, and the governing HDZ nominated cabinet minister Jadranka Kosor...
– Stjepan MesićStjepan MesićStjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian politician and former President of Croatia. Before his ten-year presidential term between 2000 and 2010 he held the posts of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament , Prime Minister of Croatia , the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Secretary General...
(Independent) (Won with 65.93% of votes in the first round) - 2009–10 – Ivo JosipovićIvo JosipovićIvo Josipović is a Croatian politician who has been President of Croatia since 2010. Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia , and played a key role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the SDP that replaced the...
(SDP) (Finished first with 32.42% of votes in the first round and won the run-off with 60.26% of votes)