Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats
Encyclopedia
The Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats is a center-left liberal party in Croatia
.
HNS currently has 5 representatives in the Croatian Parliament and are the fourth largest political party in Croatia and fourth in the number of representatives if the coalitions are included. The party is an observing member of the Liberal International
and a full member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
. HNS is currently led by Radimir Čačić
.
. The Croatian People's Party claims lineage from it by describing the events of the Illyrian movement
since 1835 as its history.
During Communism
in the second Yugoslavia, the liberal leaders of the League of Communists of Croatia
were Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo
, who participated in the Croatian Spring
of 1971.
which had participated on the first multi-party election of 1990
, led by Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Miko Tripalo, Dragutin Haramija and others.
The HNS remained a small opposition party. In the 1992 election they won 6.7% of the vote and attained 6 seats in the Croatian Parliament. In 1994, construction entrepreneur Radimir Čačić
became party chairman. In the 1995 election
they won 2 seats as part of an election alliance.
In the January 2000 election
they formed a four-party coalition with HSS
, LS
and IDS, which together won 25 seats in the Parliament, two of whom were HNS representatives. As a result, the party participated in the 2000–2003 government of Ivica Račan
through the minister of public works, construction and reconstruction Radimir Čačić. A few weeks later, the coalition's candidate and HNS member Stjepan Mesić
was elected
President of the Republic.
Also in 2000, HNS elected a new party chair, sociologist Vesna Pusić
.
In the November 2003 elections
, their alliance with the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party
won 8% of the vote and 11 out of 151 seats, 10 of them HNS representatives. However, despite significantly improved results, the party moved to the opposition.
A second element of today's People's Party, the Party of Liberal Democrats or Libra, originated in time of the Račan government when in 2002 Dražen Budiša
, the leader of the Croatian Social Liberal Party
(HSLS), pulled out of the coalition. Ten members of parliament from Budiša's party, led by Jozo Radoš
, refused to bring down the government and instead split from the HSLS, forming Libra, the Party of Liberal Democrats. That party won 3 seats in the 2003 election. On February 6, 2005, most of the 1,250 representatives of HNS on its seventh convention voted to merge with Libra as the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats. The total number of parliamentary seats for the party increased to 13.
In the November 2007 elections
the party ran on its own and got around 7% of the vote and 7 seats in the Croatian Sabor
. It remained in the opposition. Since then, two representatives in Sabor, Dragutin Lesar and Zlatko Horvat, left the party.
In April 2008 Radimir Čačić was elected party chair once again.
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 ...
.
HNS currently has 5 representatives in the Croatian Parliament and are the fourth largest political party in Croatia and fourth in the number of representatives if the coalitions are included. The party is an observing member of the Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
and a full member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
. HNS is currently led by Radimir Čačić
Radimir Cacic
Radimir Čačić is a Croatian politician and businessman, and the president of the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats ....
.
Origins
The People's Party in Croatia was originally formed in the 19th century during the period of Croatian romantic nationalismRomantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
. The Croatian People's Party claims lineage from it by describing the events of the Illyrian movement
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
since 1835 as its history.
During Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in the second Yugoslavia, the liberal leaders of the League of Communists of Croatia
League 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 :...
were Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo
Miko Tripalo
Miko Tripalo was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician.A son of well-to-do farmers' family near Sinj, he joined Tito's Partisans as a teenager...
, who participated in the Croatian Spring
Croatian Spring
The Croatian Spring was a political movement from the early 1970s that called for greater rights for Croatia which was then part of Yugoslavia as well as democratic and economic reforms.-History:...
of 1971.
Modern party
The modern Croatian People's Party was formed in late 1990 by members of the Coalition of People's AccordCoalition 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....
which had participated on the first multi-party election of 1990
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...
, led by Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Miko Tripalo, Dragutin Haramija and others.
The HNS remained a small opposition party. In the 1992 election they won 6.7% of the vote and attained 6 seats in the Croatian Parliament. In 1994, construction entrepreneur Radimir Čačić
Radimir Cacic
Radimir Čačić is a Croatian politician and businessman, and the president of the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats ....
became party chairman. In the 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...
they won 2 seats as part of an election alliance.
In the January 2000 election
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....
they formed a four-party coalition with HSS
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...
, 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...
and IDS, which together won 25 seats in the Parliament, two of whom were HNS representatives. As a result, the party participated in the 2000–2003 government of 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...
through the minister of public works, construction and reconstruction Radimir Čačić. A few weeks later, the coalition's candidate and HNS member 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...
was elected
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...
President of the Republic.
Also in 2000, HNS elected a new party chair, sociologist Vesna Pusić
Vesna Pusic
Vesna Pusić is a member of Croatian Parliament and one of the main speakers of the opposition Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats in the Parliament...
.
In the November 2003 elections
Croatian parliamentary election, 2003
-External links:*...
, their alliance with the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party
Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party
Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party was a regional political party in Croatia.It was founded in early 1990s in Slavonia. It was usually allied with Social Democratic Party of Croatia.From 1995 to 2003 it was represented in the Croatian Parliament....
won 8% of the vote and 11 out of 151 seats, 10 of them HNS representatives. However, despite significantly improved results, the party moved to the opposition.
A second element of today's People's Party, the Party of Liberal Democrats or Libra, originated in time of the Račan government when in 2002 Dražen Budiša
Dražen 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:...
, the leader of 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), pulled out of the coalition. Ten members of parliament from Budiša's party, led by Jozo Radoš
Jozo Radoš
Jozo Radoš is a Croatian centre-left politician, currently a prominent member of the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats.In the 1990s he was a member of the Croatian Social Liberal Party ....
, refused to bring down the government and instead split from the HSLS, forming Libra, the Party of Liberal Democrats. That party won 3 seats in the 2003 election. On February 6, 2005, most of the 1,250 representatives of HNS on its seventh convention voted to merge with Libra as the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats. The total number of parliamentary seats for the party increased to 13.
In the November 2007 elections
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...
the party ran on its own and got around 7% of the vote and 7 seats in the Croatian Sabor
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...
. It remained in the opposition. Since then, two representatives in Sabor, Dragutin Lesar and Zlatko Horvat, left the party.
In April 2008 Radimir Čačić was elected party chair once again.
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 HNS had been part of and the "Total seats" column includes sums of seats won by HNS in election constituencies plus representatives of ethnic minorities affiliated with HNS.| Election | |Votes won (Coalition totals) | |Total seats won (HNS only) | August 1992 | None | 176,214 | 6.67 | 6 / 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... |
HSS 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... –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.... –HKDU Croatian Christian Democratic Union Croatian Christian Democratic Union is a right wing political party in Croatia.It was founded in 1992 after the merger of Croatian Democratic Party and Croatian Christian Democratic Party .... –SBHS Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party was a regional political party in Croatia.It was founded in early 1990s in Slavonia. It was usually allied with Social Democratic Party of Croatia.From 1995 to 2003 it was represented in the Croatian Parliament.... |
441,390 | 18.26 | 2 / 127 | –4 | |||
| 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.... |
HSS 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... –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.... –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... –ASH Social Democratic Action of Croatia Social Democratic Action of Croatia is a Croatian left-wing political party.It was founded by 1994 by members of Social Democratic Party of Croatia dissatisfied with the centrist policies of SDP leader Ivica Račan and his lack of criticism towards Franjo Tuđman.The party had high hopes of... |
432,527 | 14.70 | 2 / 151 | ±0 | |||
| November 2003 Croatian parliamentary election, 2003 -External links:*... |
PGS–SBHS Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party was a regional political party in Croatia.It was founded in early 1990s in Slavonia. It was usually allied with Social Democratic Party of Croatia.From 1995 to 2003 it was represented in the Croatian Parliament.... |
198,781 | 8.00 | 10 / 151 | +8 | |||
| 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 | 168,440 | 6.80 | 7 / 153 | –3 | |||
| December 2011 | SDP–IDS–HSU | |||||||
Presidential
The following is a list of presidential candidates who either ran as HNS members or were endorsed by HNS.- 1992Croatian presidential election, 1992Presidential 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...
– Savka Dabčević-Kučar (HNS) (Finished third, with 6.02% 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...
– 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...
(HNS) (Finished first with 41.11% of votes in the first round and won the run-off with 56.01% 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 Mesić (Independent) (Finished first with 48,92% of votes in the first round and won the run-off with 65,93% of votes) - 2009–10 – Vesna PusićVesna PusicVesna Pusić is a member of Croatian Parliament and one of the main speakers of the opposition Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats in the Parliament...
(HNS) (Finished fifth with 7.25% of votes in the first round)
See also
- List of political parties in Croatia
- LiberalismLiberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
- Contributions to liberal theoryContributions to liberal theoryIndividual contributors to classical liberalism and political liberalism are associated with philosophers of the Enlightenment. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from aristocracy...
- Liberalism worldwideLiberalism worldwideThis article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world. It is an overview of parties that adhere more or less to the ideas of political liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world....
- List of liberal parties
- Liberal democracyLiberal democracyLiberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
- Liberalism in CroatiaLiberalism in CroatiaThis article gives an overview of liberalism in Croatia. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme...