Croatian Social Democrats , abbreviated HSD, is a minor left-wing 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 ...

n political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

. It came into existence in 2004 as a splinter party of the much more influential Social Democratic Party of Croatia

Social Democratic Party of Croatia

Social Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party , is the largest centre-left political party in Croatia...

 (SDP).

As of 2011 HDS never won any seats in the general elections. Its only MP is Ivica Pančić who was elected to two consecutive terms in 2003 and 2007 on the Social Democratic Party of Croatia

Social Democratic Party of Croatia

Social Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party , is the largest centre-left political party in Croatia...

 (SDP) ticket. While in office he resigned his SDP membership in January 2010 and spent eight months serving as an independent until joining HSD in September 2010.

2007 elections

For the 2007 elections, HDS made an alliance with Left of Croatia

Left of Croatia

The Left of Croatia is a marginal leftist Croatian political party with no parliamentary representation.-Origins:Left of Croatia was created in 2007 by the merger of several parties:* Vladimir Bebić – Third Block* Green Left of Croatia...

, Socialist Labour Party of Croatia

Socialist Labour Party of Croatia

Socialist Labour Party of Croatia is a far left Croatian political party with no parliamentary representation. It is often considered to be the leftmost of all registered parties in Croatian politics.-Ideology:...

 and Istrian Socialdemocratic Forum. The alliance got 9,884 votes (0.4%).

Ivica Pančić

In August 2010 former SDP member of parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and minister of war veterans in the Račan government

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...

 Ivica Pančić announced he was "taking over" the Party. He left SDP after supporting 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...

, another SDP dissident in the presidential elections in January 2010. With Pančić joining, HDS became a parliamentary party.