The politics of Croatia are defined by a parliamentary,representative democratic republic framework,where the Prime Minister of Croatia is the head of government in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government and the President of Croatia. Legislative power is vested in the Croatian Parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The parliament adopted the current Constitution of Croatia on 22 December 1990 and decided to declare independence from Yugoslavia on 25 May 1991. The Constitutional Decision on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Croatia came into effect on 8 October 1991. The constitution has since been amended several times. The first modern parties in the country developed in the middle of the 19th century,and their agenda and appeal changed,reflecting major social changes,such as the breakup of Austria-Hungary,the Kingdom of Serbs,Croats and Slovenes,dictatorship and social upheavals in the kingdom,World War II,the establishment of Communist rule and the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia.
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 is the holder of the highest office in Croatia. However,the president is not the head of the executive branch as Croatia has a parliamentary system in which the holder of the post of prime minister is the most powerful person within the country's constitutional framework and everyday politics.
The Independent Democratic Serb Party is a social-democratic political party in Croatia representing the interests of the Croatian Serbs. It holds progressive,pro-European stances and is generally considered a centre-left party.
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 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. An additional three seats are reserved for the diaspora and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina,while national minorities have eight places reserved in parliament. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker,who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker.
Regular elections in Croatia are mandated by the Constitution and legislation enacted by Parliament. The presidency,Parliament,county prefects and assemblies,city and town mayors,and city and municipal councils are all elective offices. Since 1990,seven presidential elections have been held. During the same period,ten parliamentary elections were also held. In addition,there were nine nationwide local elections. Croatia has also held three elections to elect members of the European Parliament following its accession to the EU on 1 July 2013.
Gordan Jandroković is a Croatian diplomat and politician serving as Speaker of the Croatian Parliament since 2017. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration from 2008 to 2011,and as Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2011 in the cabinets of prime ministers Ivo Sanader and Jadranka Kosor.
Ivo Josipović is a Croatian academic,jurist,composer,and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2010 to 2015.
A referendum on the EU accession of the Republic of Croatia was held on 22 January 2012. Croatia finished accession (membership) negotiations on 30 June 2011 and signed the Treaty of Accession on 9 December 2011,setting it on course to become the bloc's 28th member state. The Constitution of Croatia requires that a binding referendum be held on any political union reducing national sovereignty,such as via European Union membership. On 23 December 2011 the Croatian Parliament made a preliminary decision on EU accession and determined that the referendum would be held on 22 January 2012. The 2012 Croatian EU accession referendum was the first referendum held in Croatia since the Croatian independence referendum held more than 20 years earlier,in 1991.
Presidential elections were held in Croatia on 28 December 2014 and 11 January 2015,the sixth such elections since independence in 1991. Only four candidates contested the elections,the lowest number since 1997. Incumbent president Ivo Josipović,who had been elected as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party in 2009–2010,was eligible to seek reelection for a second and final five-year term and ran as an independent. As no candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round in December 2014,a run-off took place in January 2015 between the two candidates with the most votes,Josipovićand Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Grabar-Kitarovićwent on to win the elections by a slim margin of 32,509 votes or 1.48%,making her Croatia's first female president.
Božo Petrov 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.
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 from geographical electoral districts in Croatia,three MPs were chosen by the Croatian diaspora and eight MPs came from the ranks of citizens registered as belonging to any of the 22 constitutionally recognized national minorities.
Krešo Beljak;born 22 August 1971) is a Croatian politician who served as mayor of Samobor from 2009 to 2021,and a member of the Croatian Parliament since 2016. He is also President of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) since 2016.
Marijana Petir is a Croatian politician,former Member of the European Parliament.
Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 17 April 2024 to elect the members of the 11th Sabor. Prior to the elections,the government consisted of a coalition of the Croatian Democratic Union and Independent Democratic Serb Party,with parliamentary support of five national minority MPs,two MPs from the Croatian Social Liberal Party and Croatian Demochristian Party,and one independent MP,Silvano Hrelja.
Margareta Mađerić is a Croatian politician who serves as a member of the Croatian Democratic Union in the Croatian Parliament. Prior to her political career,she served as a marketing and communications manager.
Ivan Penava is a Croatian kinesiologist and politician who is serving as the mayor of Vukovar since 16 June 2014 and as a member of the Croatian Parliament since 14 October 2016. A former member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ),he is now the president of the right-wing populist Homeland Movement (DP) since 9 October 2021.
Ladislav Ilčić,is a Croatian politician and former violinist who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2021 until 2024.
