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Ivo Josipović (; born 28 August 1957) is a Croatian
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
,
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
,
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
, and
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
who served as the
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 ...
from 2010 to 2015. Josipović entered politics as a member of the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats ...
(SKJ), and played a key role in the democratic transformation of the
League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia (, SKH) was the Socialist Republic of Croatia, Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (, KPH). The party ...
(SKH) into 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 Form ...
(SDP) as the author of its first statute. He left politics in 1994, but returned in 2003, winning a seat in the
Croatian Parliament 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. ...
running as an
independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...
on the SDP party list. He won re-election to parliament as a member of the SDP in 2007. In addition to politics, Josipović has also worked as a university professor, legal expert, musician and composer, and holds a Ph.D. in Law and advanced degrees in music composition. Following the end of his first term in Parliament in January 2008, he ran in the 2009–10 presidential election as the candidate of the
Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (, SDP) is a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is Anti-fascism, anti-fascist, Progressivism, progressive, and strongly Pro-Europeanism, pro-European. The SDP was forme ...
(SDP), which he had rejoined in January 2008. In the first round he topped eleven rivals with 32.4% of the vote, and entered the run-off with independent conservative populist candidate and Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, who had secured 14.8%. He won the election with 60.26% of the vote in the second round of the election. His campaign was titled "Nova pravednost" (''New Justice''), calling for a new legal framework to address deep social injustice, corruption and organised crime. This included protection of individual rights and promotion of fundamental values such as equality, human rights,
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
, justice, diligence, social empathy and creativity. Josipović was inaugurated on 18 February 2010, at St. Mark's Square in
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. His term officially began at midnight on 19 February. Josipović sought reelection in the 2014–15 presidential election held on 28 December 2014. He was supported by the
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
four-party Kukuriku coalition, led by the SDP. Josipović won 38.46% of the vote in the first round, finishing narrowly ahead of conservative HDZ candidate Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. They entered a run-off, which took place on 11 January 2015 and which Josipović ultimately lost by a slim margin of around 32,500 votes, winning 49.3% of the vote to Grabar-Kitarović's 50.7%. He is the first President of Croatia not to be reelected to a second term.


Biography

Josipović's parents, originally from
Baška Voda Baška Voda () is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. It is located on the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia, northwest of Makarska. Population In the 2011 census, it had a total population of 2,775, in the foll ...
, a small town near
Makarska Makarska () is a town on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about southeast of Split (city), Split and northwest of Dubrovnik, in the Split-Dalmatia County. Makarska is a prominent regional tourist center, located on a horseshoe-shaped bay bet ...
in
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
, had moved to capital
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
in 1956, about a year before he was born. As a high school student, Josipović attended both the V. Gymnasium and a secondary music school in Zagreb from 1972 to 1976. As a teenager he was a promising
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player. He is married to Tatjana, a civil law professor and legal expert. They have one daughter, Lana (born c. 1991). Apart from his native Croatian, he speaks English fluently and has some understanding of
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
.


Law

Josipović attended the
Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
of the
University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...
, from which he graduated passing his bar examination in 1980. He completed his MA in
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...
in 1985 and his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in criminal sciences in 1994. He began as a lecturer at the same law faculty in 1984, and has since become a Professor for criminal procedure law, international criminal law and misdemeanour law. Josipović has been a
visiting researcher In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...
at a number of prestigious institutes including the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
in Breisgau, Germany, the Institute for Criminal Law of the
University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...
, Austria, as well as the HEUNI Institute (European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control) in
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
, Finland. He has also spent time as a private researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and Private International Law in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany as well the
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in the United States. As member of several domestic and international legal and artists' associations he published over 85 academic and professional papers in domestic and international journals. In year 1994, he co-founded the independent ''Hrvatski pravni centar'' (Croatian Law Center). Josipović helped to save 180 Croatian
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
from Serbian detention centers and has represented Croatia before the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
(ICJ) and the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
(ICTY). He participated in several international projects and acted as a
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
expert in evaluation of prisons in Ukraine, Mongolia and Azerbaijan.


Music

After graduating from a secondary
music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...
he enrolled at the Composition Department of the Zagreb Music Academy under the tutelage of renowned scholar Stanko Horvat. He graduated in 1983 majoring in
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
. Between 1987 and 2004 Josipović was also a lecturer at the Zagreb Music Academy. Josipović composed some 50
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
pieces for various instruments, chamber orchestra and
symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
. In 1985 he won an award from the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
for his composition "Samba da Camera" and in 1999 he was awarded the Porin award for the same
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
, which was followed by another Porin award in 2000 for his piece titled "Tisuću lotosa" (A Thousand Lotuses). His most successful pieces also include "Igra staklenih perli" (The Glass Bead Game) and "Tuba Ludens". These pieces are performed by numerous musicians in Croatia and abroad. Since 1991 Josipović also served as director of the
Music Biennale Zagreb Music Biennale Zagreb (, MBZ) is an international festival of contemporary classical music, contemporary music in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the Croatian Composers' Society. The wikt:biennale, Biennale, founded by Milko Kelemen and held every s ...
(MBZ), an international festival of
contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...
. During the 2010 election campaign Josipović announced that as president he would compose an opera based on the
murder of John Lennon On the evening of 8 December 1980, the English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fa ...
. On April 22, 2023, Josipović's opera, ''Lennon'', about the last days of
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
, the people who were important to him, and a psychological profile of his murderer, premiered in Croatia's National Theatre.


Film

Josipović was interviewed in Boris Malagurski's documentary film '' The Weight of Chains 2'' (2014). Josipović lent his voice to the third film of the ''Toy Story'' series and in a short animated film ''Night and Day''. Josipović at the beginning of the film pronounces the sentence, in Croatian, "Best things in life are unknown, turn to new things". Opening the
Pula Film Festival Pula Film Festival () is an annual Croatian film festival, established in 1954. It is held in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula Arena. Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival and is usually held in the summer, in July or Aug ...
, in 2014, President Josipović called for the audience to enjoy movies and art. "For some, film is the most beautiful and noble fraud, while for some, filmmakers are magicians. Indeed, they put in a big hat under the stars a lot of important spices and most importantly the talent and love for the art", said Josipović.


Politics

In 1980, Josipović became a member of the
League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia (, SKH) was the Socialist Republic of Croatia, Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (, KPH). The party ...
(SKH). He played a vital role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the
Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (, SDP) is a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is Anti-fascism, anti-fascist, Progressivism, progressive, and strongly Pro-Europeanism, pro-European. The SDP was forme ...
(SDP). In 1994, he left politics and the SDP, dedicating himself to law and music. Upon the invitation of
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 ...
, acting
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 ...
at the time, he returned to politics in 2003 and became an independent MP with the SDP and vice-president of the SDP representatives' group in the
Croatian Parliament 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. ...
. During his mandate in 2005, he was also a representative in the Assembly of the City of Zagreb. In 2007, he was re-elected to the Croatian Parliament. He formally renewed his SDP membership in 2008. On 12 July 2009, he was elected as the party's official presidential candidate. As MP, he served on various parliamentary committees dealing with legislative, judiciary and constitutional questions, as well as for defining parliamentary rules of procedure and the political system.


Presidential election 2010

After serving two consecutive five-year terms, the incumbent president
Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatia, Croatian lawyer and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minis ...
was not eligible to run in the scheduled 2009 presidential election. On 20 June 2009, Josipović was nominated as one of the official SDP candidates for the 2009–10 Croatian presidential election. He won in a
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...
against Ljubo Jurčić on 12 July, becoming the party's official candidate. Josipović based his campaign on the slogan 'Justice for Croatia' and kicked off his campaign with a rally in front of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. He attacked the current
Croatian government The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the president of the Government (), infor ...
and the Prime Minister
Jadranka Kosor Jadranka Kosor (; born 1 July 1953) is a Croatian politician and former journalist who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2009 to 2011, having taken office following the sudden resignation of her predecessor Ivo Sanader. Kosor was the List ...
for ignoring the needs of the little man and criticized her for not dealing with corruption. On 27 December 2009, Josipović won the first round of the presidential election with 32.42% of the vote. He faced Milan Bandić, an expelled member of the SDP running as an independent, (runner-up with 14.83%) in the second round on 10 January 2010. Subsequently, on 10 January 2010 he was elected as the third president of Croatia with 60.26% of the vote, beating Bandić in the
second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...
.


President of Croatia

In April 2010, Josipović met with the Bosnian Croat Catholic archbishop cardinal
Vinko Puljić Vinko Puljić (; born 8 September 1945) is a Bosnian Croat prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal since 1994. He was the archbishop of Vrhbosna from 1991 to 2022. Early life and education The twelfth of thirteen children, Vi ...
and the head of the Islamic Community reis Mustafa Cerić and the three made a joint visit at the sites of
Ahmići massacre The Ahmići massacre was the mass murder of approximately 120 Bosnian Muslim civilians by members of the Croatian Defence Council in April 1993, during the Croat–Muslim War. The massacre was the culmination of the Lašva Valley ethnic clea ...
and Križančevo selo killings, and paid respect to the victims. Josipović made an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina during which he addressed the Parliamentary Assembly, and in his speech he expressed a "deep regret" for Croatia's involvement in efforts to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, resulting in the
Croat–Bosniak war The Croat–Bosniak War or Croat–Muslim War was a conflict between the Bosniak-dominated Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, that lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 19 ...
and suffering for many people on both sides. The presidency of the
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 ...
condemned the apology.
Jadranka Kosor Jadranka Kosor (; born 1 July 1953) is a Croatian politician and former journalist who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2009 to 2011, having taken office following the sudden resignation of her predecessor Ivo Sanader. Kosor was the List ...
, the current prime minister and president of the Croatian Democratic Union, criticized Josipović and accused him of breaching the constitution. The vice president of the Croatian Democratic Union, Andrija Hebrang, contested that Josipović should have visited Bleiburg before Ahmići and Grabovica. He has chosen a couple of counselors who have caused scandals. Josipović's first option as counselour for rural areas and agriculture was Mato Mlinarić, who was dismissed two hours after being appointed when the press discovered that he had some non-paid tax debts. Former journalist Drago Pilsel served as Josipović's counselor for a month, but left the position after a publishing a column in which he insulted his opponents. In May 2010, Josipović met the leaders of the
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...
, Rajko Kuzmanović and
Milorad Dodik Milorad Dodik ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician currently serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since 2022, a position he previously held from 2010 to 2018. He also served as ...
, as well as the prominent Bosniak leader Sulejman Tihić, and visited the site of the Sijekovac killings to pay respect to the victims. The site and the visit provoked some controversy in the Croatian public, with allegations of impropriety levelled against President Josipović and the authorities of Republika Srpska for misattributing some of the casualties. During a visit to Israel in February 2012, Josipović apologized for atrocities committed against
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
by the Croatian
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...
regime during the 1940s. Josipović's apology was accompanied by criticism in Croatia because his predecessor
Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatia, Croatian lawyer and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minis ...
had already apologized earlier for the crimes. Josipović also said that "he is the son of Tito's partisan". During a speech at the commemoration for the victims of the
Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...
in May 2014, Josipović described the crimes that happened in Jasenovac as
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
. During his speech, Josipović stressed that the vast majority of Croatian people fought against Ustasha policies during the Second World War by participating in an anti-fascist movement, urging everyone not to forget that "exclusivity, hatred and intolerance and the evils of fascism and other totalitarian ideologies" are still present in today's societies so that WWII crimes would never repeat, stating that "unity and determination are the only true power against the new
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
, Jasenovac, Ovčara and
Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...
".


Standing in opinion polls

In 2010, Josipović had on average maintained a very high 81% approval rating (according to
Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. (; derived from the Latin expression, ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publ ...
), surpassing the former president Mesić. With ratings reaching as high as 84% in May, August and December in 2010 and 2011, Josipović was ranked as the most popular Croatian politician in the past 20 years (with the possible exception of
Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...
), since Croatia's secession from
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. However, while he remains the most popular Croatian active politician, in the first half of the 2012 his popularity suffered a decline: from ratings of over 80% at the end of 2011 and 84% in February 2012, to 74.2% in March 2012 and 68.8% in April 2012. Also, according to the polls for the 2015 presidential elections, he had a lead of about 10% against the winner of the elections, raising doubts about the methodology of the surveys.


Presidential election 2015

President Josipović announced plans to seek re-election in the 2014 presidential election, with his electoral program focusing on amendments to the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
and the decentralization of Croatia. The first round of elections took place on 28 December 2014, with Josipović narrowly coming in ahead of his main challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović of the conservative
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 ...
. Josipović received 38.46% of the vote, which represented 22,000 more votes than Grabar-Kitarović, who was at 37.22%, but both failed to win more than 50% of the vote, leading to a run-off. As the two most voted candidates, Josipović and Grabar-Kitarović proceeded to the second round on 11 January 2015. As the votes were being counted on election night, Grabar-Kitarović was predicted as the winner by media sources, taking 51.4% according to exit polls. However, as official results began to come in, Josipović took an initial lead, but Grabar-Kitarović overtook the incumbent to ultimately win by a margin of only 32,509 votes, even as voting continued to take place in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where problems had arisen due to issues with voting papers. Josipović lost the election by a wafer-thin margin of 1,989 votes if the diaspora vote is not taken into account and he conceded defeat to Grabar-Kitarović, who thus became the first female president-elect of Croatia, later in the evening. His term formally expired at midnight on 19 February 2015, while his successor had already been inaugurated on 15 February. After having lost his bid for re-election Josipović founded a new political party called Forward Croatia-Progressive Alliance and announced that he planned to contest the upcoming
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
that were to be held in November 2015. Josipović also refused to have his own office and staff, to which he was entitled for a period of five years after leaving office as president.


Parliamentary election 2015

Josipović's Forward Croatia-Progressive Alliance signed a coalition agreement with the
People's Party - Reformists People's, branded as ''People's ViennaLine'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austro-Swiss airline headquartered in Vienna, Austria. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St ...
, led by former economy minister Radimir Čačić. Josipović was a candidate in the 1st electoral district, where the coalition won only 1.01% of the vote (or 2,365 votes), compared with the 1.54% it received nationwide.


Parliamentary election 2020

Josipović was a candidate in the 1st electoral district as a member of the Restart Coalition (), led by Davor Bernardić, chairman of the SDP. He was not successful as he received 3,013 preferential votes, or 7.78% of all votes cast for the Restart Coalition in the 1st electoral district, under the 10% threshold required to be elected.


Honours and awards


References


External links


Ivo Josipović on FacebookIvo Josipović Main campaign page

Ivo Josipović Personal homepage

Ivo Josipović at the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) official web site


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070924210155/http://www.hds.hr/member/djela_hr.htm?CODE=101 List of musical works
SDP-ovac koji je devet godina izbjegavao Račana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Josipovic, Ivo 1957 births Candidates for President of Croatia Croatian agnostics Croatian composers Lawyers from Zagreb Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Modern history of Croatia Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic League of Communists of Croatia politicians Living people Musicians from Zagreb Presidents of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians Academic staff of the University of Zagreb Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Politicians from Zagreb