Chamber:
	Zastupnicki Dom
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	3 January 2000
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all seats in the Zastupnicki Dom on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The elections were initially scheduled for 22 December 1999. However, after the Constitutional Court declared President Franco Tudjman temporarily unfit to exercise his duties, the Croat Democratic Community (HDZ), the ruling party, postponed them to 3 January 2000. The four-year term of the outgoing Parliament expired on 27 November 1999. Shortly after the decision of the Constitutional Court, President Tudjman passed away. During the electoral campaign, the HDZ attempted to capitalise on the popularity of the late President. However, this proved insufficient to persuade the Croats to stick with the ruling party, which polled a scant 30.5% of the votes as against 47 per cent for the alliance of major opposition parties - the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Social Party (HSLS). The second opposition bloc, composed of small, moderate nationalist parties on the centre right - Farmers' Party, Democratic Assembly of Istria, Liberal Party, Croat People's Party and Social Democratic Action - obtained nearly 16% of the votes, entitling it to 25 seats in the new Parliament. Observers attribute this triumph by the opposition, which won 96 out of the 151 seats, to the country's difficult economic situation and the many corruption scandals implicating those close to the government. This result marks the end of a nine-year period of HDZ domination. The international observers present felt that the voting took place democratically. On 27 January, the Prime Minister-designate, Mr. Ivica Racan, announced the composition of his new government featuring representatives of six parties.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (3 January 2000): Elections results
Number of registered electors	4 244 558
Voters	2 941 306 (69)%
Blank or invalid ballot papers	50 340
Valid votes	2 890 966

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
SDP - HSLS	1 138 318	39.25
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ)	784 192	27.04
HSS - IDS - LS - HNS - ASH	432 527	14.92
Representatives Croatian abroad	107 928	3.73
Representatives of minorities	21 342	0.73
HSP - HKDU	152 699	5.27

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
SDP - HSLS	71
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ)	40
HSS - IDS - LS - HNS - ASH	24
Representatives Croatian abroad	6
Representatives of minorities	5
HSP - HKDU	5

Comments:
	SDP - HSLS : Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) + Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) + 2 regionalist parties PGS and SBHS HSS: Croatian Peasant Party IDS: Istrian Democratic Assembly LS: Liberal Party HNS: Croatian Peple's Party ASH: Croatian Social Democrats' Action HSP: Croatian Right's Party HKDU: Croatian Christian Democratic Union

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	121
Women:	30
Percent of women:	19.87 %

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 30 years	2
30 to 40 years	22
40 to 50 years	74
50 to 60 years	39
60 to 70 years	12
Over 70 years	2