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Sandra Benčić (born 28 January 1978) is a Croatian politician and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
and
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
activist who is serving as a Member of Parliament since 2020. She is a member of the green-left political platform We Can! since its foundation and has been serving as one of its two coordinators since 2023, together with
Tomislav Tomašević Tomislav Tomašević (; born 13 January 1982) is a Croatian politician, activist, environmentalist and political scientist who has served as the 53rd List of mayors of Zagreb, mayor of Zagreb since 2021. He is one of the leaders of the local Zagr ...
.


Career

She graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Law in 2014. She is a member of the Centre for Peace Studies (CMS), where she worked until 2018, mostly on the topics of
inequality Inequality may refer to: * Inequality (mathematics), a relation between two quantities when they are different. * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups ** Income inequality, an unequal distribution of i ...
and
migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
. She also has experience dealing with
regional development Regional development refers to a broad category of policies aimed at reducing regional disparities within an economy or across economies by devoting resources to underdeveloped areas. Regional development can be national or international in natur ...
and EU
funds Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm us ...
, as a
consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...
and a co-founder of one of the first consulting companies for EU funds in Croatia – "Razbor", where she worked until 2010. Benčić is one of the founders of the
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
"Solidarna" foundation. She was a member of the Commission for Handling Complaints in the
Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...
and the Council for the Development of Civil Society. In 2017, Benčić signed the
Declaration on the Common Language The Declaration on the Common Language ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Deklaracija o zajedničkom jeziku, Декларација о заједничком језику, separator=" / ") was issued in 2017 by a group of intellectuals and NGOs from Bosnia and He ...
of the
Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
,
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
,
Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
and
Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...
. She was elected to
Sabor The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected ...
as one of the leading candidates of the Green–Left Coalition in the
2020 Croatian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 5 July 2020. They were the tenth parliamentary elections since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and elected the 151 members of the Croatian Parliament. 140 Members of Parliament were elected ...
. A representative of the I Electoral district, she is serving as Chairwoman of Parliament's Environment and Nature Conservation Committee. Ahead of the 2024 Croatian parliamentary election, on September 16, 2023, she was chosen unanimously by the members of party council of the political party Možemo! (We can!) as a candidate for the position of the Croatian Prime Minister. In her first public address, Benčić placed emphasis on social and economic equality of all Croatian citizens, the safety and certainty of the work of public institutions as well as equality of all citizens under the law. Furthermore, she placed emphasis on green transition, stating that
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
needs to be "..one of the most successful countries in green transition which does not create losers of transitions, but instead creates a more just society..."''.'' In February of 2024, after the controversial appointment of the judge Ivan Turudić to the position of State Attorney of Croatia by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minister of Croatia since October 2016. He was previously one of eleven List of members of the European Parliament for Croatia, 201 ...
, Sandra Benčić, together with other parliamentarians belonging to left wing We can! party, protested in front of
Croatian Sabor The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...
the whole day and night before the official voting in the parliament where Turudić was voted in by a majority held by Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Following the vote, Benčić announced organization of large protest against the appointment "on next Saturday" alongside 11 political parties from the left wing and center of political spectrum. The protest managed to gather more than 5,000 people in the heart of Zagreb Upper Town. During the protest, Sandra Benčić spoke about the Croatian emigration problem and called out corruption scandals by the governing party HDZ, and expressed her wishes that ''"''Croatia becomes a country from which people do not leave so that they can live, but instead a country where people come to lead good lives.''"''


2024 Croatian parliamentary election

In 2024 Croatian parliamentary election, Sandra Benčić was the first candidate for the We can! political party in the first electoral district. After the surprise announcement that the current
President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the president of the Republic of Croatia (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the country and abroad. The president ...
,
Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatia, Croatian politician and the incumbent president of Croatia. First elected in 2020, he was re-elected in 2025 with 74% voter support. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was the prime min ...
will be a Prime Minister candidate for the
Rivers of Justice Rivers of Justice () is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political alliance in Croatia. Gathered around the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), the coalition was originally formed in 2010 as the Kukuriku coalition (). This somewhat facet ...
coalition, Benčić announced that the course of plans for the election campaign for We Can! will remain unchanged and that they will still seek an arrangement with Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) for a coalition in the electoral districts where the right-wing political parties are typically stronger. She also criticized the move and expressed that, if she were in Milanović’s place, she would have abdicated from the position of President before joining the campaign. However, the two parties were unable to reach an agreement for a "dotted coalition" and have decided to have separate candidacy lists in the electoral districts that are more right leaning. Despite that, both Sandra Benčić and Arsen Bauk from SDP have expressed hope that this strategy would lead to more electoral seats as well as wish for future cooperation to remove the HDZ from the government. During Benčić's visit to earthquake stricken
Petrinja Petrinja () is a town in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banija, Banovina. It is administratively located in Sisak-Moslavina County. On December 29, 2020, the town was 2020 Petrinja earthquake, hit by a strong earthquake wit ...
, her speech was interrupted by a local heckler who accused her of incompetence because "she cannot lead a trade and she studied for 18 years". Benčić dismissed these charges as a typical attack from the supporters of
Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...
and
Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minister of Croatia since October 2016. He was previously one of eleven List of members of the European Parliament for Croatia, 201 ...
, who use these arguments instead, because of "a lack of any political sustenance". Sandra Benčić won 20,352 votes out of total 45,831 votes for the political party We can!, which secured it 3 seats in the first electoral district, and thus was elected for the second time for a member of
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. In post-election speech, she spoke up of importance of forming a
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
so that the necessary anti-corruption reforms can be made, as well as to send the ruling party HDZ into the opposition.


Personal life

She is married to Miroslav Petrović. The couple has two sons. She appreciates
Ivica Račan Ivica Račan (; 24 February 1944 – 29 April 2007) was a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2000 to 2003, heading two centre-left coalition governments. Račan became the first prime minister of Croatia not to be a ...
as Croatian prime minister and Sanna Marin as a prime minister from European country. Benčić revealed that she regularly attends Let 3, TBF and Hladno pivo concerts.


References


External links

* at 10th Croatian Parliament * at mozemo.hr {{DEFAULTSORT:Bencic, Sandra Living people 1978 births Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni 21st-century Croatian politicians Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament 21st-century Croatian women politicians Green politicians Signatories of the Declaration on the Common Language People from Zabok Možemo! / We Can! politicians