Croatian parliamentary election, 2003

Croatian parliamentary election, 2003
	← outgoing members
All 151 seats to Hrvatski sabor ; 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61.7%
	Results of the election in each of the ten electoral districts of Croatia: the party with the majority of votes in each electoral unit. ; HDZ: blue; SDP coalition: red
Prime Minister before election; Ivica Račan ; SDP	Subsequent Prime Minister; Ivo Sanader ; HDZ

Last updated March 22, 2019

Diagram of final election results Croatian parliament 2003.jpg — Diagram of final election results

Parliamentary elections to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament were held on November 23, 2003.^[1] They were the 5th parliamentary elections to take place since the first multi-party elections in 1990. Turnout was 61.7%. The result was a victory for the opposition Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ) which won a plurality of 66 seats, but fell short of the 76 needed to form a government. HDZ chairman Ivo Sanader was named the 8th Prime Minister of Croatia on 23 December 2003, after parliament passed a confidence motion in his government cabinet, with 88 Members of Parliament voting in favor, 29 against and 14 abstaining. The ruling coalition, consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Croatian People's Party (HNS), Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party (LS) did not contest the elections as a single bloc. Namely, the SDP ran with the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), the Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party (LS), HNS ran with the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar (PGS) and the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party (SBHS), while HSS ran on its own.

The Croatian Parliament or the Sabor is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia; it is Croatia's legislature. 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 to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Seats are allocated according to the Croatian Parliament electoral districts: 140 members of the parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies, 8 from the minorities and 3 from the Croatian diaspora. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker.

The Croatian Democratic Union is a conservative political party and the main centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croatia, along with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP). It is currently the largest party in the Sabor with 55 seats. The HDZ ruled Croatia from 1990 after the country gained independence from Yugoslavia until 2000 and, in coalition with junior partners, from 2003 to 2011, and since 2016. The party is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). HDZ's leader, Andrej Plenković, is the current Prime Minister of Croatia, having taken office following the 2016 Parliamentary Election.

General information

There are 10 electoral units based on geography and population. In each unit, 14 candidates are elected on proportional electoral system. The election threshold is 5%.

Party-list proportional representation family of voting systems

Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation (PR) in elections in which multiple candidates are elected through allocations to an electoral list. They can also be used as part of mixed additional member systems.

The electoral threshold is the minimum share of the primary vote which a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to any representation in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ways. For example, in party-list proportional representation systems an election threshold requires that a party must receive a specified minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or in a particular electoral district, to obtain any seats in the legislature. In multi-member constituencies using preferential voting, besides the electoral threshold, to be awarded a seat, a candidate is also required to achieve a quota, either on the primary vote or after distribution of preferences, which depends on the number of members to be return from a constituency.

In addition, 8 candidates are elected to represent national minorities.

The citizens that live outside Croatian borders vote in a separate electoral unit. The number of representatives elected from this unit will be determined after the elections, based on how many people actually vote in Croatia, so that there is equal value of votes both inside and outside Croatia. For reference, the number of diaspora seats in the 2000-2003 Sabor was six.

Total: 140 domestic seats + 8 minority seats + 4 diaspora seats.^[2]

Distribution of minority seats:^[3]

Serbs: 3
Hungarians: 1
Italians: 1
Czechs and Slovaks: 1
Austrians, Bulgarians, Germans, Poles, Romani, Romanians, Rusyns, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, Vlachs and Jews: 1
Albanians, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Slovenes: 1

The Serbs are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group that formed in the Balkans. The majority of Serbs inhabit the nation state of Serbia, as well as the disputed territory of Kosovo, and the neighboring countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. They form significant minorities in North Macedonia and Slovenia. There is a large Serb diaspora in Western Europe, and outside Europe there are significant communities in North America and Australia.

Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history and language. Hungarians belong to the Uralic-speaking peoples. There are an estimated 14.2–14.5 million ethnic Hungarians and their descendants worldwide, of whom 9.6 million live in today's Hungary. About 2.2 million Hungarians live in areas that were part of the Kingdom of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon and are now parts of Hungary's seven neighbouring countries, especially Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. Significant groups of people with Hungarian ancestry live in various other parts of the world, most of them in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and Argentina. Hungarians can be classified into several subgroups according to local linguistic and cultural characteristics; subgroups with distinct identities include the Székelys, the Csángós, the Palóc, the Matyó and the Jász people, the last being considered an Iranic ethnic group being closely related to the Ossetians.

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.

Parties and coalitions

Pre-election coalitions:^[3]

DC and HSLS, in all electoral units
SDP and IDS, in the 8th electoral unit (the county of Istria et al.)
HB and HIP, in all electoral units
SDP and Libra in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 10th electoral unit
SDP and LS, in the 4th and 6th electoral unit
HNS and SBHS, in the 4th and 5th electoral unit (counties of Slavonia)
HNS and PGS, in the 7th and 8th electoral unit (Northern seacoast counties)

Istria, formerly Histria (Latin), Ίστρια, is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf. It is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. Croatia encapsulates most of the Istrian peninsula with its Istria County.

Slavonia is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Srijem, although the territory of the counties includes Baranya, and the definition of the western extent of Slavonia as a region varies. The counties cover 12,556 square kilometres or 22.2% of Croatia, inhabited by 806,192—18.8% of Croatia's population. The largest city in the region is Osijek, followed by Slavonski Brod and Vinkovci.

Summary of votes and seats

e • d **Summary of the 23 November 2003 Croatian Parliament *(Hrvatski Sabor)* election results**
Parties and coalitions		Votes	%	Seats	%	Seat change (%)
Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica)		840,692	33.9	66	43.71	+13,25
Coalition:	Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske)	560,593	22.6	34	22.52	-5,96
	Istrian Democratic Assembly (Istarski demokratski sabor/Dieta democratica Istriana)			4	2.65	0
	Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra - Stranka liberalnih demokrata)			3	1.99
	Liberal Party (Liberalna stranka)			2	1.32	0
Coalition:	Croatian People's Party (Hrvatska narodna stranka)	198,781	8.0	10	6.62	+5.30
	Alliance of Primorje - Gorski Kotar (Primorsko-goranski savez)			1	0.66	-0.66
	Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party (Slavonsko-baranjska hrvatska stranka)			-	0.00	-0.66
Croatian Peasant Party (Hrvatska seljačka stranka)		177,359	7.2	10	6.62	-4.64
Coalition:	Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava)	157,987	6.4	8	5.30	+2,65
	Zagorje Democratic Party (Zagorska demokratska stranka)			-	0.00
	Međimurje Party (Međimurska stranka)			-	0.00
Coalition:	Croatian Social Liberal Party (Hrvatska socijalno liberalna stranka)	100,335	4.0	2	1.32	-15.24
Coalition:	Democratic Centre (Demokratski centar)	100,335	4.0	1	0.66
Croatian Pensioners' Party (Hrvatska stranka umirovljenika)		98,537	4.0	3	1.99
Independent Democratic Serb Party (Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka)		-	-	3	1.99
Coalition:	Croatian Democratic Peasants Party (Hrvatska demokratska seljačka stranka)	24,872	1.0	1	0.66
	Croatian Democratic Centre (Hrvatski demokratski centar)			-	0.00
	Democratic Prigorje-Zagreb Party (Demokratska prigorsko-zagrebačka stranka)			-	0.00
Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia (Demokratska zajednica Mađara Hrvatske)		-	-	1	0.66
German People's Union (Njemačka narodnosna zajednica)		-	-	1	0.66
Party of Democratic Action of Croatia (Stranka demokratske akcije Hrvatske)		-	-	1	0.66
Non-partisans				4	2.65
Total (turnout 61.7 %)		2,478,967		151	100.00
Invalid Votes		41,041
Votes Cast		2,520,008
Registered Voters		4,087,553
Source: Croatian State Election Committee^[3] and IFES.

The number of diaspora mandates is reduced by 2 compared to previous elections due to somewhat lower diaspora turnout. Due to distribution according to the d'Hondt method, the independent lists for diaspora won't be allocated seats, even though they received over 5% of total votes.

The D'Hondt method or the Jefferson method is a highest averages method for allocating seats, and is thus a type of party-list proportional representation. The method described is named in the United States after Thomas Jefferson, who introduced the method for proportional allocation of seats in the United States House of Representatives in 1791, and in Europe after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt, who described it in 1878 for proportional allocation of parliamentary seats to the parties. There are two forms: closed list and an open list.

National minorities elected 8 representatives through a separate election system: Vojislav Stanimirović (22,2% of votes), Milorad Pupovac (21,7%) and Ratko Gajica (13,8%) for the Serb national minority, Jene Adam (42%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (79,8%) for the Italian minority, Zdenka Čuhnil (39,2%) for the Czech and Slovak minorities, Nikola Mak (14,3%) for the Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Jewish, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vlach minorities and Šemso Tanković (59,1%) for the Albanian, Bosniak, Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovene minorities.

Ivo Sanader of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was appointed as Prime Minister by the President and confirmed by the Croatian Parliament.

The new Government was formed of 13 HDZ ministers and 1 of Democratic Centre.^[4]

Popular vote

HDZ			33.9%
SDP - IDS - Libra - LS			22.6%
HNS - PGS - SBHS			8%
HSS			7.2%
HSP - ZDS - MS			6.4%
HSLS - DC			4%
HSU			4%
HDSS - HDC - DPZS			1%
Others			12.9%

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References

↑ Odluka o raspisivanju izbora za zastupnike u Hrvatskom saboru
↑ Izvješće OESS/ODIHR-ove izborne promatračke misije, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, pdf
1 2 3 "Službeni rezultati izbora za zastupnike u Hrvatski Sabor" [Official results of the election of representatives for the Croatian Parliament]. Izbori.hr. Croatian State Election Committee. 2003-12-03. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
↑ VLADA Republike Hrvatske - kronologija. Vlada: 9 / predsjednik Vlade: Dr. sc. Ivo Sanader

External links

Official election archive by the State Election Committee

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[1] Odluka o raspisivanju izbora za zastupnike u Hrvatskom saboru

[2] Izvješće OESS/ODIHR-ove izborne promatračke misije, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, pdf

[hr_2003_official_results-3] 1 2 3 "Službeni rezultati izbora za zastupnike u Hrvatski Sabor" [Official results of the election of representatives for the Croatian Parliament]. Izbori.hr. Croatian State Election Committee. 2003-12-03. Retrieved 2011-11-21.

[4] VLADA Republike Hrvatske - kronologija. Vlada: 9 / predsjednik Vlade: Dr. sc. Ivo Sanader