Croatian parliamentary election, 2007
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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....

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2003 election
Croatian parliamentary election, 2003
-External links:*...

 • MPs
2007 election • MPs
2011 election

Parliamentary elections to the 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 Parliament were held on 25 November 2007 in Croatia and on 24 November and 25 November 2007 abroad. The campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...

 officially started on 3 November. The President of Croatia
President of Croatia
The President of Croatia , officially styled the President of the Republic represents the Republic of Croatia in the country and abroad as the head of state, maintains the regular and coordinated operation and stability of the national government system, and safeguards the independence and...

 announced elections on 17 October and 14 days were allowed for candidate lists to be submitted.

Elections were held in 10 electoral districts inside Croatia
Croatian Parliament electoral districts
The Croatian Parliament electoral districts have been in place since the Law on Electoral Districts of 1999.Croatia has 12 electoral districts. Ten of these are geographical districts within Croatia, each providing 14 members of parliament. District XI is for Croatian citizens living abroad, with a...

 (each providing 14 members of parliament), one electoral district for Croatian citizens living abroad (with a maximum 12 members of parliament), and one electoral district for national minorities (8 members of parliament). Candidate lists have to win more than 5% of the votes in at least one electoral district in order to be represented in the parliament. 4,478,386 people in total were eligible to vote, 405,092 of whom are in the diaspora, 280,000 living in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

To prevent possible electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...

, such as votes from the deceased, or people voting twice in different locations, the Croatians outside of Croatia who were eligible to vote had to register no later than 14 days before the election.

In three locales, the election were repeated on 9 December 2007; while this could not and did not change the final result as far as mandates are concerned, it meant the final result became known only on 11 December 2007.

The governing centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

 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...

 emerged as the relative winner of the election, but failed to obtain an outright majority. The opposition 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...

 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...

 achieved their best result ever as a party, but were unsuccessful in their attempt to become the strongest single party. The election resulted in the formation of the Sanader II cabinet
Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II
The second Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was announced on 12 January 2008. It was the 10th cabinet of Croatia, and its term ended on 6 July 2009 when Jadranka Kosor formed the 11th cabinet...

 supported by HDZ
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...

, 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...

, 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...

 and the representatives of national minorities.

Electoral lists

Croatian political parties and independent lists had to formally submit their candidates and eventual pre-election coalitions not later than October 30. 3585 people from political parties or independent lists applied for the elections (22 people per seat). There were 235 political party lists, 16 independent lists and 72 candidates for minority seats. 29.93% of the candidates were women. The average age of the candidates was 43.41 years old; 44.70 for men, and 40.40 for women. The oldest candidate was 89, and the youngest 18. The State Electoral Committee had to confirm the lists before midnight of 2 November.

Parliamentary parties and coalitions

  • 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)
  • Social Democratic Party
    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)
  • 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...

    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...

    -Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar-Democratic Party of Zagorje-Zagorje Party) (HSS-HSLS-PGS-ZDS-ZS)
  • 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)
  • Croatian Party of Right (HSP)
  • Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB)
  • 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...

     (coalition with Democratic Party of Pensioners) (HSU)
  • Democratic Centre-Green Party – Green Alternative
    Green Party – Green Alternative
    Green Party – Green Alternative is centrist, regional, green and minor non-parliamentary party in Croatia. It was registered in Pula in 2003 as "Democratic Green Union – The Greens" . It is one of seven green parties in Croatia...

     (DC-Zeleni)
  • Independent Democratic Serb Party (national minorities electorate and 9th electorate) (SDSS)
  • Political parties and lists of national minorities (12th electorate)


Parliamentary parties are with bolded acronyms.

Non-parliamentary parties

  • Croatian Youth Party
    Croatian Youth Party
    Croatian Youth Party was a Croatian youth party founded in 2004, with 1500 members in 2005. In 2009 it merged with another party, Akcija mladih....

     (HSM)
  • Croatian Democratic Peasants' Party
    Croatian Democratic Peasants' Party
    The Croatian Democratic Peasant Party is a minor conservative political party in Croatia.The party is led by Ivo Lončar, a popular television news reporter who was elected as a member of the 2000-2003 Parliament from the Croatian Peasant Party list; he subsequently left the party and became an...

     (HDSS)
  • Croatian Pure Party of Right (HČSP)
  • Croatian Christian Democratic Union
    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 ....

     (HKDU)
  • Croatian Demochristians (Demokršćani)
  • United Supporters of the Croatian Party of Right Movement
    United Supporters of the Croatian Party of Right Movement
    Autochthonous Croatian Party of Right is a nationalist, eurosceptic, social conservative, right wing political party founded in Koprivnica, in 2005, after merging of Croatian Rightists and Croatian Right Movement. The goal of the Movement is to unite all of the rightists parties in Croatia like...

     (HP-HPP)
  • Green List of Croatia
    Green List of Croatia
    The Green List is a green political party in Croatia. It was created in 2005 for local elections for Zagreb Assembly. It was firstly named Greens for Zagreb . At the local elections in May 2009, the party won 14 mandates in Zagreb's city quarters and five in other local councils...

     (Zelena lista)
  • Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia
    Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia
    Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia is a political party in Croatia, formed in 2007.The party was established by disaffected founding members of the HDZ, the Croatian Bloc , and by a group of Croatian Generals, including Marinko Krešić and Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, who were deeply worried about foreign...

     (Jedino Hrvatska)

Non-parliamentary coalitions

  • "Left Coalition": 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:...

    -Istrian Social Democratic Forum
    Istrian Social Democratic Forum
    Istrian Socialdemocratic Forum is a regional left-wing political party in Istria County of Croatia.It was founded by dissident faction of Istrian Democratic Assembly and firstly it was named Istrian Democratic Forum, led by Luciano Delbianco, former prefect of Istria County.In the past, it has...

    -Croatian Socialdemocrats (Ljevica-SRP-ISDF-HSD)
  • "United Left": Social Democratic Action of Croatia
    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...

    -Croatian Labour Party
    Croatian Labour Party
    Croatian Labour Party is a minor Croatian party without political representation. The Party has about 400 members. It was founded in 1999 in Samobor. It follows teachings of Croatian nationalist Ante Starčević....

    -Green Party-Adriatic Social Democratic Party of Croatia. In some electorates also with Women's Democratic Party
    Women's Democratic Party
    Women's Democratic Party is a women's rights political organization founded in Zagreb in 2004. Party aims to represent the interests and concerns of women. The party allows male members....

    . (ASH-HRS-ZS-JSD-DSŽ)
  • Croatian Christian Democratic Party–Christian Social Union (HKSS-KSU)
  • Democratic Union of Međimurje–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....

    Dalmatian Liberal Party
    Dalmatian Liberal Party
    The Dalmatian Liberal Party was a regional left-wing liberal political party in Croatia formed by dissident members of the Liberal Party. The party was founded on April 4, 2005, and its membership in 2006 was estimated at 160....

     (in some electorates with Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar) (DSM-SBHS-DLS-PGS)
  • Greens of Croatia-Women's Democratic Party
    Women's Democratic Party
    Women's Democratic Party is a women's rights political organization founded in Zagreb in 2004. Party aims to represent the interests and concerns of women. The party allows male members....

     (Zeleni HR-DSŽ)
  • Party of Pensioners-Istrian Social Democratic Independent Party (SU-ISDNS)

Independent Lists

  • Slaven Letica
    Slaven Letica
    Slaven Letica is a Croatian author, economist, commentator and politician.Native of Podgora, Letica graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Economics....

  • Boris Mikšić
    Boris Mikšic
    Boris Mikšić is a Croatian businessman and politician.Mikšić was born in Zagreb, then part of SFR Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in 1973...

  • Hrvoje Hitrec
    Hrvoje Hitrec
    Hrvoje Hitrec is a Croatian writer and politician. He is notable for his works for children and youth, most famous of his works being Smogovci, but he also wrote novels, film and TV scripts, dramas...

  • Ivan Lončar
  • Drago Krpina
  • Tonči Tadić
  • Jerko Ivanković Lijanović

Distribution of minority seats

  • Serbs
    Serbs
    The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

    : 3
  • Hungarians: 1
  • Italians
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

    : 1
  • Czechs and Slovaks
    Slovaks
    The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

    : 1
  • Austrians
    Austrians
    Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

    , Bulgarians
    Bulgarians
    The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

    , Germans
    Ethnic German
    Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...

    , Poles
    Poles
    thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

    , Roma, Romanians
    Romanians
    The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

    , Rusyns
    Rusyns
    Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...

    , Russians
    Russians
    The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

    , Turks
    Turkish people
    Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

    , Ukrainians
    Ukrainians
    Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

    , Vlachs
    Vlachs
    Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...

     and Jews: 1
  • Albanians
    Albanians
    Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

    , Bosniaks
    Bosniaks
    The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

    , Montenegrins, Macedonians, Slovenes: 1

Announced boycotts

  • Marginal right wing Croatian Party of Right 1861 decided not to participate in the 2007 elections as they claimed the elections were unconstitutional.

Election spending

On 11 December 2007 GONG and Transparency International Croatia had published media spending of all Croatian political parties during the election period. This numbers are http://www.gong.hr/news.aspx?newsID=1236&pageID=1:
  • 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...

     25.476.833 HRK or 51.9 % of total
  • 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...

     8.150.728 HRK or 16.6 % of total
  • 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...

    -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...

     4.923.277 HRK or 10.0 % of total
  • Croatian People's Party 4.204.998 HRK or 8.6 % ot total
  • Croatian Party of Right 3.082.071 HRK or 6.1 % of total
  • 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....

     611.406 HRK or 1.2 % of total
  • 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...

     520.362 HRK or 1.1 % ot total
  • Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia
    Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia
    Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia is a political party in Croatia, formed in 2007.The party was established by disaffected founding members of the HDZ, the Croatian Bloc , and by a group of Croatian Generals, including Marinko Krešić and Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, who were deeply worried about foreign...

     348.686 HRK or 0.7 % of total
  • Democratic Centre 329.151 HRK or 0.7 of total
  • Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja 283.212 HRK or 0.6 % of total

12 electorate
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...

s in Croatia

Since 1999 Croatia has been divided into 10 geographically-based electorates with around 250 000 - 300 000 registered voters. Each electorate elects up to 14 MPs chosen by the standard D'Hondt formula
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...

.

In the 11th electorate, up to 12 members are chosen by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

 - depending on a number of voters in Croatia - to represent Croatian citizens residing abroad (known as the diaspora electorate) and 8 members from ethnic/national minorities. Three of these seats are reserved for the Serbian minority.

It have to be noted that in Croatia, the official threshold is 5% for parties and coalitions. However, since the country is divided in 10 voting districts with 14 elected representatives each, sometimes the threshold can be higher, depending on the number of "fallen lists" (lists that don't get at least 5%). If many votes are lost in this manner, a list that gets barely more than 5% will still get a seat, whereas if there is a small number of parties that all pass the threshold, the actual ("natural") threshold is close to 7.15%.
This sistem is greatly favorable to [regional parties] i.e. parties that gain their votes in only a electorate (see IDS, HDSSB), and it is disfavorable to these parties that have greaters numbers but widespread in all the nation (see HSU and HSP).
This made also the forming of post electoral coalitions somewhat unpredictable, as the overall success of one of the greatest parties can effectively turn out to be counter-producent if it is get at expense of their foreseeable partner, causing them to not pass the threeshold in some or also all electorates( it happened to the HDZ-led coalition in previous 2003 election
Croatian parliamentary election, 2003
-External links:*...

.

Summary of votes and seats

Most polls a couple of days before the election were predicting a very tight race between the governing 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...

 and the opposition 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...

. On the night of the election, after all the polls around the country closed, all major television networks released the results of the exit polls. All of them showed the social democrats with a slight lead. None of the exit polls, however, took into account the votes coming from the citizens living abroad, which tend to vote for the more conservative option. The first official results published at 9 p.m. showed HDZ with a slight lead. Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader |Split]]) is a Croatian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009.Sanader obtained his education in comparative literature in Austria, where he also later worked in the 1980s. He worked as a journalist, in marketing, publishing and also as a private...

 gave a victory speech close to midnight saying he will be forming the next government
Government of Croatia
The Government of the Republic of Croatia , commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government , is the main element of the executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the President of the Government , commonly abbreviated to premier...

. Despite the election loss, SDP individually as a party achieved its best result ever, even better than the 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....

 result when SDP led a victorious coalition. Most smaller parties lost seats, the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats from the 2003 election
Croatian parliamentary election, 2003
-External links:*...

, 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...

 also lost 4 seats and the far-right Croatian Party of Rights
Croatian Party of Rights
The Croatian Party of Rights is a right-wing political party in Croatia. The "right" in the party's name refer to the idea of Croatian national and ethnic rights that the party has vowed to protect since its founding in the 19th century...

 suffered its worst election results since the 1990s losing 7 seats and winning only 1.



Government
Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II
The second Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was announced on 12 January 2008. It was the 10th cabinet of Croatia, and its term ended on 6 July 2009 when Jadranka Kosor formed the 11th cabinet...

  Opposition
Opposition (Croatia)
The Opposition in Croatia is a term used to describe political parties represented in Parliament which are not a part of the government supported by the parliamentary majority....

                                                                                                         
                                                                                                         
                                                                                                         
Government:   HDZ
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...

  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...

  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...

  Minorities
Opposition:   SDP
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...

  HNS   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....

  HDSSB   HSU
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...

  HSP
Croatian Party of Rights
The Croatian Party of Rights is a right-wing political party in Croatia. The "right" in the party's name refer to the idea of Croatian national and ethnic rights that the party has vowed to protect since its founding in the 19th century...


Turnout

district I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI total
voters total 361 236 399 648 366 005 335 091 372 163 356 575 403 812 385 594 426 199 416 017 404 950 4 227 290
votes cast 243 980 254 571 249 111 211 839 216 335 224 986 264 795 240 250 259 018 264 193 90 482 2 519 560
valid votes 243 480 254 269 249 041 211 426 215 937 224 554 264 232 239 987 258 593 263 372 90 402 2 515 293
turnout 67,4% 63,6% 68,0% 63,1% 58,0% 63,0% 65,4% 62,2% 60,7% 63,3% 22,3% 59,5%

Results for each electoral district

district I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
HDZ
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...

31,03 % 31,83% 23,85% 31,20% 42,75% 34,23% 35,14% 21,16% 52,09% 44,54%
SDP
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...

42,07 % 33,33% 30,79% 26,80% 26,69% 36,08% 36,90% 40,99% 22,63% 28,27%
HNS 6,43 % 4,47% 25,34% 4,64% 4,31% 5,42% 5,52% 5,21% 3,79% 4,83%
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...

-HSS
4,38 % 16,53% 9,95% 4,04% 5,54% 8,27% 6,49% 2,93% 3,29% 5,71%
HSU
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...

4,87 % 4,29% 3,53% 4,89% 3,71% 4,44% 4,53% 5,85% 3,38% 3,03%
HSP
Croatian Party of Rights
The Croatian Party of Rights is a right-wing political party in Croatia. The "right" in the party's name refer to the idea of Croatian national and ethnic rights that the party has vowed to protect since its founding in the 19th century...

2,40 % 2,93% 1,67% 7,98% 5,19% 3,44% 3,25% 1,81% 3,43% 3,49%
HDSSB 15,23% 6,00%
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....

16,18%

Formation of government

On night of the elections, after first seat projections were announced, the president of 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...

 announced that he spoke with the President of the Republic
President of Croatia
The President of Croatia , officially styled the President of the Republic represents the Republic of Croatia in the country and abroad as the head of state, maintains the regular and coordinated operation and stability of the national government system, and safeguards the independence and...

 and that he will be forming the government. A few minutes after him, the president of the Social Democratic Party
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...

 informed the public that he too spoke with president and that he too was commencing the formation of the government.

President 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...

 explained that his constitutional obligation was to give a mandate to form a government to a person who presents him with convincing proof that they have support of a majority of the newly elected parliament. As the president failed to announce that he will give the mandate to Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader |Split]]) is a Croatian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009.Sanader obtained his education in comparative literature in Austria, where he also later worked in the 1980s. He worked as a journalist, in marketing, publishing and also as a private...

, leader of the party with the most seats in the parliament, he was criticised by many for complicating the situation and starting a political crisis
Crisis
A crisis is any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society...

. President Mesić responded that he was following article 97 of the 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...

.

HDZ
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...

, together with HSU
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...

  and Roma national minority member Nazif Memedi had 68 of 77 seats required for a majority while SDP
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...

 , HNS , 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....

  and SDA
Party of Democratic Action of Croatia
The Party of Democratic Action of Croatia is a political party that represents the Bosniak ethnic minority in Croatia...

  together had 67 seats. Therefore, the 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...

-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...

 coalition which had 8 seats was instrumental in forming a government. Before the elections, leaders of the coalition stated that they will first speak with the party which wins the most seats (not counting 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...

 seats). As this turned out to be HDZ, negotiations between HDZ and HSS-HSLS of a coalition started on 3 December.

Although HSS-HSLS started negotiating with HDZ, the president of SDP Milanović refused to give up and still claimed that SDP was also in a process of forming of a government because SDP, HNS, IDS and SDA won 150 thousand votes more than HDZ (not counting diaspora). HDSSB had declared support for SDP if SDP-formed government will work "in the interest of Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

 and Baranja
Baranya (region)
Baranya or Baranja is a geographical region between the Danube and the Drava rivers. Its territory is divided between Hungary and Croatia...

", but Milanović stated that he firmly believed that SDP will form the government even without support from HDSSB. Although up until 25 November 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 ....

 still claimed that he was SDP's candidate for premier, on 30 November Milanović announced that he was assuming responsibility for forming SDP-led government. Jurčić confirmed that he thinks that "responsibility for functioning of the government should be distributed among heads of parties and that is the best concept in this circumstances". Heads of HSS-HSLS coalition Adlešič and Friščić
Josip Frišcic
Josip Friščić is a Croatian politician and current leader of the Croatian Peasant Party .Friščić joined the party in 1992 and subsequently established many local branches.-References:...

 declared this decision to be "very important and could influence their decision about who they will support". Adlešić added that Milanović is "much better premier candidate than Jurčić and that SDP would probably have better election results if Milanović made this decision earlier".

On 12 December it was announced that coalition talks between HDZ and the HSS-HSLS were close to completion and the odds of HSS-HSLS entering into discussions with SDP were announced by Božidar Pankretić as very low. Three days later, President Mesić held a second round of consultations with parliamentary parties and was reassured that HDZ and HSS-HSLS are finishing their negotiations. Mesić considered that a proof that Sanader had support of the majority of Sabor and handed him a mandate to form a government. Following that announcement, Milanović again reiterated that SDP still hasn't given up on forming a government. Sanader described this behaviour as "not fitting the democratic standards" and that president would have much easier job if SDP just acknowledged their defeat.

The first session of the newly elected parliament was called for 11 January 2008, and on 12 January, the parliament approved Sanader's cabinet
Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II
The second Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was announced on 12 January 2008. It was the 10th cabinet of Croatia, and its term ended on 6 July 2009 when Jadranka Kosor formed the 11th cabinet...

.

External links

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