Croatian Democratic Union
Croatian Democratic Union Hrvatska demokratska zajednica | ||
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Municipalities 196 / 428 | ||
Party flag | ||
Website | ||
www | ||
The Croatian Democratic Union (Croatian: Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit. 'Croatian Democratic Community', HDZ) is a major conservative,[2][3] centre-right[3][4] political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croatia, along with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP). It is currently the largest party in the Sabor with 62 seats. The HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 before the country gained independence from Yugoslavia until 2000 and, in coalition with junior partners, from 2003 to 2011, and since 2016.
HDZ is a member of the Centrist Democrat International, International Democracy Union, and the European People's Party,[5] and sits in the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament.
History
Origins
The HDZ was founded on 17 June 1989 by Croatian dissidents led by Franjo Tuđman. It was officially registered on 25 January 1990. The HDZ held its first convention on 24–25 February 1990, when Franjo Tuđman was elected its president. When the party was founded, the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia had just introduced a multi-party system in Croatia and scheduled elections for the Croatian Parliament.[6]
The HDZ began as a nationalist party but also included former partisans and members of the Communist establishment, such as Josip Manolić and Josip Boljkovac.[7] President Tuđman and other HDZ officials traveled abroad and gathered large financial contributions from Croatian expatriates. On the eve of the 1990 parliamentary elections, the ruling League of Communists of Croatia saw such tendencies within the HDZ as an opportunity to remain in power. At the beginning of democracy the communists called HDZ "the party of dangerous intentions". The HDZ won a majority in the Croatian Parliament, and Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia) became one of the few socialist countries where Communist single party rule was replaced by anti-Communist single party rule. 30 May 1990, the day the HDZ formally took power, was celebrated as Statehood Day.[8]
1990–2000
A presidential election was held in 1992, and Tuđman, who would remain as undisputed party leader until his death in 1999, was elected president.
The party governed Croatia throughout the 1990s and under its leadership, Croatia became independent (1991), was internationally recognized (1992), and consolidated all of its pre-war territory (by 1998).[9] During that period, the HDZ won both the 1992 and 1995 parliamentary elections.[10]
As it strongly advocated Croatian independence, the HDZ was quite unpopular with the
Transition to capitalism
The HDZ also began to lead Croatia toward
HDZ after Tuđman's death
The 2000 parliamentary elections were held 3 January, weeks after Tuđman's death. The HDZ was defeated by a centre-left coalition of six opposition parties, led by Ivica Račan's Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Dražen Budiša's Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS).[12] The election was seen as a referendum on the HDZ with a poor economy, corruption and crony capitalism being major factors in their ouster.[12][13]
At the subsequent presidential election, HDZ candidate Mate Granić who was favored to win in the weeks prior to the parliamentary elections,[14] finished third and therefore failed to enter the second round of voting, won by Stipe Mesić.[15]
In the period from 2000 and 2003, several businessmen who became tycoons under the initial HDZ rule were tried and convicted for abuses, though in general the privatization process implemented by the HDZ remained unaltered. This period proved to be a low point for the HDZ; many thought the party could not recover.[citation needed] These people included Mate Granić, who, together with Vesna Škare-Ožbolt, left to form the centre-right Democratic Centre (DC).
When the
First Sanader government (2003–2008)
At the 2003 Croatian parliamentary election, the party won 33.9% of the popular vote and 66 out of 152 seats.[17] Although it failed to win a clear majority in the Croatian Parliament, even with the help of the allied DC and HSLS, it formed a government with the nominally left-wing Independent Democratic Serb Party and the Croatian Party of Pensioners.
With such a broad and diverse mandate, the Sanader-led government vigorously pursued policies that amounted to the implementation of the basic criteria for joining the European Union, such as the return of refugees to their homes, rebuilding houses damaged in the war, improving minority rights, cooperating with the ICTY, and continuing to consolidate the Croatian economy.[18] Despite this, the EU's Council of Ministers postponed Croatia's membership negotiations with the union on the grounds of its non-cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia over the case of indicted general Ante Gotovina.
This setback brought an increase in
Second Sanader government (2008–2009)
Despite this defeat, the
During the electoral campaign a vigorous and sometimes ruthless reaction from the party and Sanader himself, together with some capital errors from SDP, convinced part of the far-right electorate to support the HDZ to prevent what they perceived as the heirs of the former
Although that government had a larger majority than the former one, its existence remained troubled because of the worsening of the previously good economic situation and a
In the local elections held in May 2009, the HDZ, against all expectations, managed to grow again, coming ahead of the SDP.[21] However, HDZ support did weaken in the larger cities.
On 1 July 2009, Ivo Sanader abruptly announced his resignation from politics and appointed
In the same resignation speech, Sanader also appointed
The "Fimi media" was a corruption scandal which resulted from former Prime Minister
Government of Jadranka Kosor
The HDZ was faced with bad poll ratings and a large clean-up task that was still underway when Sanader left. The officials used the 2009 convention to elect Jadranka Kosor party president by acclamation. Andrija Hebrang accepted his designation as the presidential candidate only at the end of July, after he underwent a thorough
The Kosor government remained mostly unchanged from the previous Sanader government, but the HDZ suffered some internal turmoil as ministers Berislav Rončević and Damir Polančec left their posts after allegations of corruption. Along with several anti-corruption investigations, the party had to deal with an economic crisis. It began tackling the issue in April 2010 with a recovery program.[25]
In the next presidential elections, Croatia was looking for a replacement for
However, many Croatian people were dissatisfied with the government and protested on the streets against the HDZ government, demanding that new elections be held as soon as possible. The police placed a guard on St. Mark's Square to prevent civilians from entering.[26]
From 26 October 2011
In the opposition
After the 2011 parliamentary elections, the HDZ become the opposition after 8 years in government. The HDZ won its smallest number of votes since its founding, 563,215.
On 20 May 2012, HDZ held a presidential election in which, a day later,
Karamarko earlier announced that, after a process of the
Plenković government (2016–present)
Following the collapse of the Tihomir Orešković government in June 2016, Tomislav Karamarko resigned as HDZ leader. The party elected former diplomat and member of the European Parliament Andrej Plenković as the new president, who won on a policy platform "devoid of extremes and populism".[33] Plenković won the 2016 parliamentary election, in which he campaigned on a pro-European and moderate agenda.[34] Plenković was appointed prime minister in October.[35]
Ideology
In terms of ideology, the HDZ statute, as well as its President Andrej Plenković and Secretary Gordan Jandroković, define the political position of the party as centre-right.[36][37][38] However, there have significant shifts in HDZ's ideological and political positions, and there are both moderate and right-wing factions within the party with different interpretations of its basic positions.[3]
The HDZ leaders during the 1990s described their party as centrist and Christian-democratic,[39] although in practice they pursued ultranationalistic policies.[40] However, the party was at the time mostly characterized as further to the right than in recent years.
At its beginning, the HDZ was an ethnically exclusive party that emphasized Croatian identity. Slogans such as "God and Croats" and "Croats get together" were common, which were incidentally also used by the leaders of the
The HDZ's position regarding the European Union was
In economic terms, the party advocates for a social market economy and expressed its opposition to economic liberalism in the 2002 programme.[3]
Election results
Legislative
The following is a summary of the party's results in legislative elections for the Croatian Parliament. The "Total votes" and "Percentage" columns include sums of votes won by pre-election coalitions HDZ had been part of. After the preferential votes were included in the election system, the votes column also includes the sum of votes for HDZ's candidates on the coalition lists. The "Total seats" column includes sums of seats won by HDZ in election constituencies plus representatives of ethnic minorities affiliated with HDZ.
Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Coalition | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coalition | HDZ | ||||||
1990 | Franjo Tuđman | 1,201,122 | 41.90 (#1) | 205 / 351
|
None | Majority | |
1992 | 1,176,437 | 44.68 (#1) | 85 / 138
|
120 | Majority | ||
1995 | 1,093,403 | 45.23 (#1) | 75 / 127
|
10 | Majority | ||
2000 | Zlatko Mateša | 790,728 | 26.88 (#2) | 46 / 151
|
29 | Opposition | |
2003 | Ivo Sanader | 840,692 | 33.90 (#1) | 66 / 151
|
20 | Coalition | |
2007 | 907,743 | 36.60 (#1) | 66 / 153
|
Coalition | |||
2011 | Jadranka Kosor | 563,215 | 23.50 (#2) | 44 / 151
|
22 | HGS–DC | Opposition |
2015 | Tomislav Karamarko | 771,070 | 33.46 (#1) | 51 / 151
|
7 | Patriotic Coalition | Coalition |
2016 | Andrej Plenković | 682,687 | 36.27 (#1) | 57 / 151
|
6 | HDS–HRAST
|
Coalition |
2020 | 621,035 | 37.26 (#1) | 62 / 151
|
5 | HDS–HDSSB
|
Coalition | |
2024 | 729,949 | 34.44 (#1) | 55 / 151
|
7 | HDS–HSU
|
Coalition |
Presidential
The following is a list of presidential candidates endorsed by HDZ in elections for President of Croatia.
Election | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | Result | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
1992 | Franjo Tuđman | 1,519,100 | 56.73 (#1) | Won | ||
1997 | 1,337,990 | 61.41 (#1) | Won | |||
2000 | Mate Granić | 601,588 | 22.47 (#3) | Lost | ||
2005 | Jadranka Kosor | 452,218 | 20.31 (#2) | 751,692 | 34.07 (#2) | Lost |
2009–10 | Andrija Hebrang
|
237,998 | 12.04 (#3) | Lost | ||
2014–15 | Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović | 665,379 | 37.22 (#2) | 1,114,945 | 50.74 (#1) | Won |
2019–20 | 507,628 | 26.65 (#2) | 929,707 | 47.34 (#2) | Lost |
European Parliament
Election | Coalition | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coalition | HDZ | ||||
2013[47] | HSP AS–BUZ
|
243,654 | 32.86 (#1) | 5 / 12
|
|
2014[48] | HDS–ZDS
|
381,844 | 41.42 (#1) | 4 / 11
|
1 |
2019 | None | 244,076 | 22.72 (#1) | 4 / 12
|
Party presidents since 1989
The chart below shows a timeline of the Croatian Democratic Union presidents and the Prime Ministers of Croatia. The left bar shows all the president of the HDZ, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Croatian government at that time. The blue (HDZ) and red (SDP) colours correspond to which party led the government. The last names of the respective prime ministers are shown, the Roman numeral stands for the cabinets.
See also
References
- ^ "Službeni rezultati unutarstranačkih izbora: Andrej Plenković osvojio je 78.6%, a Miro Kovač 21.4%". hdz.hr (in Croatian). 17 July 2016.
- ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2020). "Croatia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-319-59563-4.
- ^ ISBN 9783642194146, retrieved 26 July 2012
- ^ "Parties and Partners". European People's Party. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ISSN 1330-0474. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-300-09125-0.
- ISBN 9789027272973.
- ISBN 9783031048227.
- ISBN 9789027272973.
- ISBN 953-195-190-X.
- ^ a b Hedl, Dragutin (7 January 2000). "Tudjman's Party Buried". Institute for War & Peace Reporting.
- ^ Dole, Bob (14 January 2000). "A Vote for Hope In the Balkans". The Washington Post.
- ^ Poolos, Alexandra (1 January 2000). "Croatia: Presidential Candidates Hit The Road For Election Campaign". RadioFreeEurope/RadioFreeLiberty.
- ISBN 9781108499910.
- S2CID 154749275.
- ^ "CROATIA: parliamentary elections Hrvatski Sabor, 2003". archive.ipu.org. Inter-Parliamentary Union.
- ^ "Croatia: 2003 Elections and New Government" (PDF). justice.gov. CRS Report for Congress. 6 January 2004.
- ^ "Vote for HSP Is Vote for SDP – Sanader". Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ "PM: Nobody Will Take Away Votes from Diaspora". Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ Croatia's local elections head to second round (SETimes.com)
- ^ Radosavljevic, Zoran. "Croat president mandates Kosor to form government". Reuters.
- ^ "Kosor becomes first woman PM". France 24. 7 July 2009.
- ^ dizajn, Virtus. "Transparency International Hrvatska". transparency.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ISBN 9780801465222.
- ^ "Hrvatska ključa – spremaju se novi prosvjedi – Danas.hr". Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ a b c Capar, Luka; Toma, Ivanka. J. Kosor: Neću dati ostavku i nećemo dopustiti da se HDZ uruši. Večernji list. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-27 (in Croatian)
- Dnevnik Nove TV. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ a b Grubišić, petar; Ivanković, Davor; Balija, Petra; Kožul, Dijana; Capar Luka (21 May 2012). "'Prošlo je vrijeme komocije i eksperimentiranja s Hrvatskom'". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ Opačak-Klobučar, Tamara (8 May 2012). "Karamarko: Ni za Pavelića ni za Tita, moramo se vratiti Tuđmanu". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ "Croatia's EU accession brings stability to the region; HDZ becomes full member party of the EPP". 1 July 2013.
- ^ "Former Croatia PM Ivo Sanader convicted of corruption". BBC News. 11 March 2014.
- ^ "Croatia's conservatives reject rightwing populism with new leader". Financial Times. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Croatia's conservatives set for coalition talks after falling short of majority". The Guardian. 12 September 2016.
- ^ "Croatia parliament approves new conservative-led cabinet". Reuters. 19 October 2016.
- ^ "Plenković: HDZ Won't Curry Favour with Those on Far Right". Total Croatia News. 8 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- 24sata.hr. 2 July 2018.
- ^ "Statut Hrvatske demokratske zajednice". hdz.hr. 26 May 2018. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "'HDZ je centar. I dok sam živ, neću dopustiti klerikalizaciju'". Večernji list. 10 May 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-13460-952-9.
- ISBN 978-1-13468-791-6.
- ^ "Croatian Prime Minister Resigns". balkaninsight.com. 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Croatia opposition picks former spy as leader". Reuters. 21 May 2012.
- ^ "Croatian Opposition Chief Drags HDZ to the Right". balkaninsight.com. 23 October 2015.
- ^ "Karamarko Comeback Unlikely to Unite Croatian Right: Analysts". balkaninsight.com. 5 December 2018.
- ^ Skrpec, Dagmar (25 July 2017). "Croatia, Russia, and the Balkan Great Game". Foreign Affairs.
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires|magazine=
(help) - European Parliament election, 2013 (Croatia)#Results[circular reference]
- ^ "Prebrojani svi glasovi: DIP službeno objavio imena 11 europarlamentaraca". Novi list online portal. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
External links
- Media related to Croatian Democratic Union at Wikimedia Commons