| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Hrvatski Sabor / Croatian Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
4 December 2011 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all seats in the Croatian Parliament (Hrvatski Sabor) on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
On 31 October 2011, President Ivo Josipovic called elections for 4 December. They were the first to be held since the conclusion of European Union (EU) accession talks in June 2011 (see note 1).
In the previous elections held in November 2007, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 66 of the 153 seats, 10 more than the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Mr. Sanader subsequently formed a coalition government comprising the HDZ, the Peasant Party-Social Liberal Party Coalition (HSS-HSLS, eight seats), the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU) and eight representatives of ethnic minorities (see note 2). The HDZ had led the country since it gained independence in 1991, except between 2002 and 2003.
In July 2009, Prime Minister Sanader was forced to resign over allegations of corruption and abuse of power. Ms. Jadranka Kosor (HDZ) succeeded him, thereby becoming the country's first woman Prime Minister since independence. She subsequently launched a strong anti-corruption campaign in view of concluding the EU accession talks. In October, Mr. Sanader (who had turned down his parliamentary seat in 2007 to become prime minister) was sworn in as a parliamentarian.
In January 2010, Mr. Ivo Josipovic (SDP) won the run-off presidential election. In December, Mr. Sanader fled to Austria hours before parliament was due to vote on lifting his immunity. He was subsequently arrested and extradited to Croatia.
The July 2010 constitutional amendments put the number of members elected from abroad at three, thereby setting the statutory number of members in the new legislature at 151. Previously, the number had not been set and the total number of members varied according to the legislature.
The corruption charges against Mr. Sanader continued to cast a shadow over the HDZ. On 5 September 2011, parliament's Credentials and Privileges Committee lifted Mr. Sanader's immunity. On 27 October, the State Attorney's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) expanded the probe to the HDZ as a whole. On 28 October, parliament was dissolved with a view to general elections.
In all, 4,359 candidates (of whom 35 per cent are women) from 313 candidates' lists (including 204 political parties, 81 coalitions, and 28 lists proposed by groups of voters) were vying for seats in 2011. They included 56 candidates for the eight seats reserved for ethnic minorities.
The HDZ, which was seeking a third consecutive term, formed a coalition with the Democratic Centre (DC) and the Croatian Civic Party (HGS). The HDZ-led coalition was challenged by the SDP-led Alliance for change (KUKURIKU). The latter comprised the SDP, the Croatian People's Party (HNS), the Croatian Pensioners' Party (HSU) and the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS).
With both coalitions supporting the country's accession to the EU, the election campaign focused on unemployment, taxation, and infrastructure. In October 2011, the unemployment rate reached 17.4 per cent, and the country's budget deficit soared to 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Prime Minister Kosor's HDZ ran on the government's record. The Prime Minister underscored that the economic recovery programme launched in April 2010 had helped to create jobs. She pledged to reduce the budget deficit to 1.9 per cent of GDP by 2014. She promised to give incentives and benefits for entrepreneurs to employ more young people in order to reduce unemployment. The Prime Minister refrained from commenting on the work of the Chief State Prosecutor in the investigation into the HDZ. She instead stated that the fight against corruption must not stop and that it had to be a permanent obligation for all.
The SDP-led KUKURIKU promised to implement more austerity measures to revive industry and attract foreign investment. SDP leader, Mr. Zoran Milanovic, promised to increase GDP by 4 per cent by 2015 and create 140,000 jobs. While the Prime Minister refused to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan, Mr. Milanovic said he would not rule it out as a "last resort".
In all, 54.32 per cent of the 4.2 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
The KUKURIKU won 80 of the 151 seats, thereby securing a majority in the new parliament. The HDZ coalition took 47. The remainder went to small parties. Eight members representing ethnic minorities announced that they would back the KUKURIKU.
On 14 December, President Josipovic designated Mr. Milanovic as the new Prime Minister.
On 22 December, the newly elected parliament held its first session and elected Mr. Boris Sprem (SDP) as its new Speaker.
The following day, parliament approved Mr. Milanovic's Cabinet.
Note 1:
Following the signing of the EU Accession Treaty on 9 December 2011, on 23 December, parliament set a referendum on EU accession for 22 January 2012. 66.27 per cent of the voters voted for EU accession. Croatia will join the EU on 1 July 2013 as its 28th Member.
Note 2:
Eight seats are reserved for the following ethnic minorities:
- Serbian minority: three seats
- Czech and Slovak minorities: one seat
- Italian minority: one seat
- Hungarian minority: one seat
- Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Ruthenian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vallachian and Jewish minorities: one seat
- Albanian, Bosnian, Montenegro, Macedonian and Slovenian minorities: one seat
Election results for the minority seats in 2011
- Serbian minority: all three seats were won by the Independent Democratic Serb party.
- Czech and Slovak minority: Croatian People's Party (HNS)
Independent candidates won the four remaining seats listed above. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 4 December 2011 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
4'504'251
2'446'831 (54.32%)
2'397'660 |
|
Notes
|
- The statistics above include results from 10 constituencies in Croatia, abroad (constituency XI) and those reserved for minorities (constituency XII).
- The number of "voters" refers to the number of registered voters who turned out at the polls and received a ballot paper (including those who did not cast their ballot). Among the votes actually cast, there were 42,094 invalid votes. |
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Alliance for Change (KUKURIKU) |
|
|
|
|
52.98 |
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) |
|
|
|
|
19.87 |
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Croatian Civil Party (HGS) |
|
|
|
|
8.61 |
|
|
| Representatives of ethnic minorities |
|
|
|
|
5.30 |
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB) |
|
|
|
|
3.97 |
|
|
| Croatian Labour-Labour Party (HL-SR) |
|
|
|
|
3.97 |
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Democratic Centre (DC) |
|
|
|
|
2.65 |
|
|
| Ivan Grubisic Independent List |
|
|
|
|
1.32 |
|
|
| Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) |
|
|
|
|
0.66 |
|
|
| Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) - Croatian Pure Party of Rights (HCSP) |
|
|
|
|
0.66 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Alliance for Change (KUKURIKU) |
80
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) |
30
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Croatian Civil Party (HGS) |
13
|
|
|
|
|
| Representatives of ethnic minorities |
8
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB) |
6
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Labour-Labour Party (HL-SR) |
6
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Democratic Centre (DC) |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Ivan Grubisic Independent List |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) - Croatian Pure Party of Rights (HCSP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
115
36
23.84%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Note on the distribution of seats
- The Alliance for Change (KUKURIKU) comprised the Social Democratic Party (SDP, 66 seats), the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats (HNS, eight seats), the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS, three seats) and the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU, three seats).
- The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) -Croatian Civil Party (HGS) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Democratic Centre (DC) were a part of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) coalition but fielded candidates separately.
Sources:
Croatian Parliament (25.01.2012)
Election Commission (31.01.2012)
http://www.croatiantimes.com/index.php
http://www.izbori.hr/2011Sabor/rezultati/rezultati.html
http://www.robert-schuman.eu/doc/oee/oee-744-en.pdf
http://www.robert-schuman.eu/doc/oee/oee-737-en.pdf
BBC Monitoring |
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
