Goran Granic
Encyclopedia
Goran Granić is a 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 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...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who was the deputy prime minister from 2000 to 2002.

From 1995-1996, Granić was selected as mayor of Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 by his party that won the local elections. However, the president, Franjo Tuđman did not allow him to proceed with his duties as mayor, leading to the Zagreb Crisis
Zagreb Crisis
The Zagreb crisis is the name used to describe a political crisis that followed the elections for the City of Zagreb local assembly held in October 1995...

: Zagreb's local government would go on to place four other mayors from the party, each of which was blocked by Tuđman.

As a member of the 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...

 party, which was allied with SDP during the 2000 parliament 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....

, Granić entered the newly formed government as 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...

's deputy prime minister.

He was much praised by his superior, Račan, during his term in office. However, HSLS's leader, 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:...

 (having failed in the presidential elections
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...

) suddenly wanted the position of prime minister and forced Račan - since his party's parliament votes were vital to the government - to dismiss Granić and place him instead. Despite his new position, Budiša wasn't satisfied and suddenly led his party out of the government. As a result, HSLS split into two factions.

The dissident pro-government faction - including Granić and 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 ....

 as more prominent members - created a new party - Liberals of Croatia - Libra.

Libra merged with the Croatian People's Party in 2005, since known as the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats, but Granić himself has mostly shunned politics after his government position.

He is a brother of Mate Granić
Mate Granic
Mate Granić is a Croatian diplomat and politician who was part of the Croatian Government in much of the 1990s.Granić was born in Baška Voda in Dalmatia...

, once a prominent member of the rival 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).

Goran Granić was a target of media outburst when he drove over a 12-year-old girl and fled the scene of accident. The police pressed charges against him.

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