2016 Croatian Parliamentary Election
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Parliamentary elections were held in
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
on 11 September 2016, with all 151 seats in the
Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor ...
up for election. The elections were preceded by a successful motion of no confidence against Prime Minister
Tihomir Orešković Tihomir "Tim" Orešković (; born 1 January 1966) is a Croatian Canadian businessman who was Prime Minister of Croatia from January to October 2016. Born in Zagreb, Orešković emigrated to Canada at a young age and spent most of his life there. ...
and his cabinet on 16 June 2016, with 125 MPs voting in favour of the proposal. A subsequent attempt by the
Patriotic Coalition The Patriotic Coalition ( hr, Domoljubna koalicija) was a political alliance in Croatia formed in 2015. The parties signed the coalition agreement on 21 September 2015. On 2015 parliamentary election, coalition won a relative majority in 5 of the ...
to form a new parliamentary majority, with Minister of Finance
Zdravko Marić Zdravko Marić (; born 3 February 1977) is a Croatian economist and politician who served as the Minister of Finance from 2016 and a Deputy Prime Minister from 2019, until his resignation from both positions in 2022. He was the first non-partisan ...
as Prime Minister, failed and the Parliament voted to dissolve itself on 20 June 2016. The dissolution took effect on 15 July 2016, which made it possible for President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...
to officially call for elections on 11 September 2016. These were the ninth parliamentary elections since the
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
multi-party elections. The elections were contested by the two largest parties in the outgoing eighth Parliament; the
Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
(HDZ), led by
Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...
, and the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
(SDP) led by
Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party f ...
. The SDP contested the election as part of the People's Coalition, consisting of the SDP, HNS, HSS and HSU. They were also challenged by a number of other parties and coalitions, including the
Bridge of Independent Lists The Bridge ( hr, Most), previously known as Bridge of Independent Lists ( hr, Most nezavisnih lista) until November 2020, is a political party in Croatia founded in 2012. The party is led by Božo Petrov, its founder and the former mayor of Metkov ...
(Most), which held the balance of power after the 2015 elections. The incumbent Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković, a
non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...
technocrat, announced that he would not be running on any party's candidate list and would not seek reelection. The election resulted in a victory of HDZ with 61 seats in the parliament, while the People's Coalition won 54 seats. Andrej Plenković started talks about forming a governing majority with Most, which won 13 seats. Zoran Milanović announced his withdrawal from politics after the defeat. A few weeks after the election HDZ and Most concluded talks on forming a government, which would also include the 8 Members of Parliament representing national minorities. On 10 October 2016 Plenković formally presented 91 signatures of support by MPs to President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...
, therefore far more than the necessary majority of 76 signatures and he was thus made Prime Minister-designate with a 30-day mandate to form a government until 9 November 2016. The 9th Assembly of the
Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor ...
was constituted on 14 October with the election of Most leader Božo Petrov as
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
. On 19 October a parliamentary vote of 91 in favor, 45 against and 3 abstentions formally confirmed Croatia's 14th government cabinet since the first multi-party elections in 1990, with Andrej Plenković as Croatia's 12th Prime Minister. The new cabinet consisted of 20 ministers, including Goran Marić, a
minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
who was on later tasked with leading the newly formed
Ministry of State Property The Ministry of State Property, sometimes translated as the Ministry of State Domains, (russian: Министерство государственных имуществ (МГИ), ''Ministerstvo gosudarstvennykh imushestv (MGI)'') was the minist ...
.


Background

Following the
2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...
a government was formed by independent businessman
Tihomir Orešković Tihomir "Tim" Orešković (; born 1 January 1966) is a Croatian Canadian businessman who was Prime Minister of Croatia from January to October 2016. Born in Zagreb, Orešković emigrated to Canada at a young age and spent most of his life there. ...
who was supported by the conservative
Patriotic Coalition The Patriotic Coalition ( hr, Domoljubna koalicija) was a political alliance in Croatia formed in 2015. The parties signed the coalition agreement on 21 September 2015. On 2015 parliamentary election, coalition won a relative majority in 5 of the ...
, led by
Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
(HDZ), and
Bridge of Independent Lists The Bridge ( hr, Most), previously known as Bridge of Independent Lists ( hr, Most nezavisnih lista) until November 2020, is a political party in Croatia founded in 2012. The party is led by Božo Petrov, its founder and the former mayor of Metkov ...
(MOST). However, HDZ put forward a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
on 16 June, with 125 of 151 MPs voting in favor of the motion.Croatian prime minister toppled in confidence vote
BBC News, 16 June 2016
The HDZ sought to form a new government with Minister of Finance
Zdravko Marić Zdravko Marić (; born 3 February 1977) is a Croatian economist and politician who served as the Minister of Finance from 2016 and a Deputy Prime Minister from 2019, until his resignation from both positions in 2022. He was the first non-partisan ...
as Prime Minister, however it was clear that he would not get support of 76 MPs. On 20 June MPs voted to dissolve parliament effective on 15 July, resulting in snap elections being called by President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...
, who called for elections on 11 September.


Electoral system

The 151 members of the Croatian Parliament are elected by three methods; 140 are elected in ten 14-seat constituencies by
open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, par ...
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
using a 5% electoral threshold, with seats allocated using the
d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
; 3 are elected in a special constituency for Croatian citizens and people of Croatian descent living overseas; and 8 are elected from a constituency for ethnic national minority groups: 3 for Serbs, 1 for Italians, 1 for Hungarians, 1 for Czechs and Slovaks, 1 for Albanians, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Montenegrins and Slovenes, and 1 for Austrians, Bulgarians, Germans, Jews, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Rusyns, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians and Vlachs.


Political parties


Election campaign

Campaigning for the early parliamentary elections officially began on 16 August 2016 and ended at stroke of midnight between 9 and 10 September 2016. An
election silence Election silence, blackout period, pre-election silence, electoral silence, or campaign silence is a ban on political campaigning or media coverage of a general election, before or during that election. Operation In some jurisdictions, such as Sl ...
officially commenced at that time and lasted until 19:00 local time on election day (11 September) when voting officially ended. All electoral activity, such as distributing or exhibiting promotional materials near polling stations or encouraging voters to vote for a certain political party, coalition or candidate is prohibited during the duration of the election silence and is punishable by law. On 12 August a television debate hosted by
Croatian Radio Television ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...
(HRT) featured SDP and People's Coalition chairman
Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party f ...
and
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...
chairman
Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...
. According to a poll taken by daily newspaper '' Jutarnji List'' of 36.700 of its readers, 58% of those taking part answered that Milanović had been the more convincing of the two candidates and had won the debate, while 42% said the same of Plenković. However, some 87% of the 6.000 readers taking part also stated that the television debate had not greatly altered their political views. Readers were also asked to assign a grade (on a scale of 1 to 5) to each of the candidates, with 9.000 people taking part and giving Plenković an average grade of 3,36, while Milanović received an average grade of 3,23.


Issues

The main issues in the electoral campaign included fostering economic growth achieved after a six-year recession (2008-2015) and both major parties, the SDP (in government 2011-2016) and
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...
(in government from January 2016) claimed that economic recovery was begun during their period of government and that it was the result of their policies. Other issues included the halted education reform initiative, which was due to be tested in selected Croatian schools in late 2016 and the debate over ending political polarization caused by differing views on Croatia's role in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the resurgence of extreme far-right ideologies in Croatian society. Numerous parties competing in the election called for an end to divisions caused by a continuing debate about the roles of the Ustaša and
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
regimes in Croatian history and questions relating to whether both regimes should be considered to have been authoritarian and to have committed certain war crimes on ethnic or ideological grounds. Furthermore, an important issue of the campaign was how to regulate Croatia's relations with
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
. Some of the most important aspects of this debate included the controversial criminal law adopted by Serbia, by which it unilaterally declares itself to have criminal jurisdiction over all war crimes committed on the territory of the former
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Under this law Serbia has issued a large number of arrest warrants for numerous Croatian veterans of the
Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
, including numerous prominent political leaders and army commanders. Another issue which was also discussed was whether to use the blocking of Serbia's accession negotiations with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
to put pressure on the Serbian government to repeal the controversial law. Less prominent issues in the campaign included the negative demographic trends in Croatia, mostly relating to a large number of Croatian citizens migrating to other countries to seek employment (among them many young highly educated citizens), diminishing
birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
s, the depopulation of certain parts of the country due to poor economic and social conditions, as well as the growing median age of the population.


Opinion polls


Exit polls


Results

The elections yielded a surprise victory for the conservative HDZ, though most opinion polls had predicted the People's coalition would have the largest share of seats in Parliament. The People's Coalition's unexpected defeat was, among other things, attributed to the release of a leaked audio recording of former Prime Minister and coalition chairman
Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party f ...
speaking at a private meeting with Croatian war veterans. In the recording Milanović used numerous derogatory terms, calling Serbs ʽʽpitifulˮ and stating that "Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a countryˮ and it is thought that these statements undermined support for the People's Coalition among minority voters. The
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...
, which had trailed the People's coalition in opinion polls for over two months prior to the election and was thought to be facing certain defeat, managed under its new leader, MEP
Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...
to shed the image of being a corruption-engulfed right-wing party for a more Europe-oriented centrist one. Low turnout is also thought to have contributed to the unexpectedly large number of seats won by the HDZ, as their voters and supporters were expected to have a high turnout rate on election day. After the election Milanović announced that he would not stand for reelection as party chairman of the SDP in the upcoming
leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
. Following the conservatives' victory, the stock market reacted generally favourably to the election results. It is considered likely that the next governing majority will be formed by a coalition of the HDZ and the centre-right
Most Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** A ...
party, which once again gained the role of kingmaker. However such a coalition would also need the support of additional parties to command a majority of seats, which is also a prerequisite for naming a Prime Minister-designate, who is given a 30-day mandate to form a government by the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
. In the event of a HDZ-Most coalition government, Andrej Plenković as chairman of the HDZ is thought to be the most likely candidate to become the 12th Prime Minister of Croatia. National minorities elected 8 representatives through a separate election system: Milorad Pupovac (84,55% of votes), Mile Horvat (63,68%) and Boris Milošević (60,04%) for the
Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
national minority, Róbert Jankovics (53,02%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (72,65%) for the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
minority, Vladimir Bilek (84,43%) for the
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...
and Slovak minorities, Veljko Kajtazi (53,16%) for the
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
,
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
,
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
,
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
,
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
,
Rusyn Rusyn may refer to: * Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people ** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people ** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people ** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people * Rusyn l ...
,
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
,
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
,
Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...
minorities and Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj (25,31%) for the
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
,
Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
, Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovene minorities. Six of the eight representatives of national minorities from the 8th Assembly of Parliament were reelected, while Šandor Juhas (Hungarian minority) lost his bid for reelection and Mirko Rašković (Serb minority) did not run for another term. Three Members of Parliament were elected by Croatian citizens living abroad in an
overseas constituency An overseas constituency or overseas electoral district is any electoral district located outside of a nation-state's borders but which is recognized by the state's government as a district for the representation of its expatriate (and, technically ...
. Traditionally, the HDZ is heavily favored to win all three seats, however in this election
Željko Glasnović Željko Glasnović (born 24 February 1954) is a former Croatian military officer and politician. He was a member of Croatian Parliament's club called Independents for Croatia. Biography He was born in Zagreb in 1954. His late father was from Janj ...
, who ran his own independent party list, won one seat in Parliament.


Government formation

Following the announcement of election results late on 11 September 2016 it was thought that there could be a repeat of the long-lasting and somewhat tumultuous talks that followed the previous election. Namely, as yet again no party or coalition had gained an absolute majority of 76 seats, coalition talks would be required between the two larger parties (
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...
and the People's Coalition) and the numerous smaller parties to form such a majority. However, the opposition SDP-led People's Coalition conceded defeat after winning only 54 seats in Parliament. Its leader, former Prime Minister
Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party f ...
, ruled out running for reelection to his party's chairmanship, effectively also ruling out any possible attempts to form a governing majority, thus allowing the HDZ to begin talks with the
Bridge of Independent Lists The Bridge ( hr, Most), previously known as Bridge of Independent Lists ( hr, Most nezavisnih lista) until November 2020, is a political party in Croatia founded in 2012. The party is led by Božo Petrov, its founder and the former mayor of Metkov ...
(Most), its junior partner in the outgoing government led by the
non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...
Prime Minister
Tihomir Orešković Tihomir "Tim" Orešković (; born 1 January 1966) is a Croatian Canadian businessman who was Prime Minister of Croatia from January to October 2016. Born in Zagreb, Orešković emigrated to Canada at a young age and spent most of his life there. ...
. Most set out seven conditions for entering into a government with any party and Plenković began discussions lasting several weeks with Most representatives. Plenković also held talks with the 8 representatives of national minorities, as HDZ and Most would not have a majority without their support. Over the next few weeks several other parties, including the HSS proceeded to give their support to a government led by Plenković. However, it is widely viewed that HSS chairman
Krešo Beljak Krešo Beljak ( ; born 22 August 1971) is a Croatian politician who has been mayor of Samobor since 2009, and a member of the Croatian Parliament since 2016. He is also President of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) since 2016. Early life and edu ...
agreed to give Plenković the support of his party's 5 MPs and "100 days of peace before turning into the sharpest opposition" in order to calm tensions resulting from a dispute between him and HSS MEP
Marijana Petir Marijana Petir (born 4 October 1975) is a Croatian politician, former Member of the European Parliament. Biography She stems from the village of Mustafina Klada in Moslavina. Petir graduated from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb and the Facul ...
, who had called for HSS to enter the center-right government to be formed by HDZ and Most instead of remaining a part of the People's Coalition as an opposition party. The dispute escalated and Beljak proceeded to suspend over 100 members of the party, including Petir. Plenković further received the support of the Milan Bandić 365 party, one out of two HSU MPs and one former member of
Human Blockade The Key of Croatia ( hr, Ključ Hrvatske) is a populist political party in Croatia, formed out of an anti-eviction group of the same name. The party changed its name on 21 May 2022 from its then name Human Shield the group opposes foreclosures by ...
. He formally received 91 signatures of support from MPs on 10 October 2016, far more than the necessary 76, and presented them to President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...
, who named him Prime Minister-designate and gave him 30 days time until 9 November to form a government. On 14 October Parliament constituted its 9th Assembly since
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
by electing
Most Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** A ...
leader
Božo Petrov Božo Petrov (; born 16 October 1979) is a Croatian politician and psychiatrist who served as Speaker of the Croatian Parliament from 2016 to 2017. He has been the president of The Bridge party since 2012. He previously served as mayor of his na ...
as the 11th
Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
. On 19 October Andrej Plenković was confirmed as the 12th Prime Minister of Croatia along with his cabinet of 20 ministers by a vote of 91 in favor, 45 against and 3 abstentions among 151 Members of Parliament. His government received the support of MPs belonging to the
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...
HSLSHDS coalition,
Bridge of Independent Lists The Bridge ( hr, Most), previously known as Bridge of Independent Lists ( hr, Most nezavisnih lista) until November 2020, is a political party in Croatia founded in 2012. The party is led by Božo Petrov, its founder and the former mayor of Metkov ...
, Milan Bandić 365, HSS,
HDSSB Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja ( hr, Hrvatski demokratski savez Slavonije i Baranje or HDSSB) is a regionalist, National conservatism political party in the Eastern Croatian region of Slavonia. Until 2015, the HdSSB was co ...
, SDSS and five representatives of other national minorities.


See also

*
Cabinet of Andrej Plenković Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...


Notes


References

{{Croatian elections
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...