Political situation

Constitutional system
The federal system of former Yugoslavia provided the single republics with extensive legislative powers and differentiated constitutional frameworks. Croatia changed its constitution in 1990 to anticipate the creation of an independent Croatian state. The new document transformed Croatia from a multinational state (inhabited by a number of constituent peoples) into a national one (�the state of the Croats�) rejecting, therefore, any specific arrangement in favour of minorities. A new constitutional law passed in 1991 provided for limited concession of minority rights.
Nowadays Croatia constitutes a parliamentary democracy notwithstanding Tudjman�s reiterated attempts to transform it into presidential: the former president�s design substantially failed for the lack of the necessary two thirds majority in the assembly. The president is entitled to appoint the Prime Minister who selects a cabinet of ministers. The cabinet, in turn, needs to receive a vote of confidence from the parliament. The �Sabor� consists of two separate chambers: the House of Counties (�Zupanijas�) where each of the 21 Zupanijas elects three members and five additional ones are appointed by the President; the House of Representatives has a varying number of members (ranging from 100 to 160). The electoral system is mixed featuring a combination of proportional and majoritarian mechanisms.

A hierarchy of legal norms characterizes the legal system in Croatia. They are arranged in four levels, and the norms lower in rank have to be congruent with those of higher levels. The highest norm is the Constitution � the fundamental law. The constitution was originally made on December 22, 1990. It went through some important changes in 1997, 2000 and 2001. It is based on two important principles: division of power in the government and the rule of law. Ranking in importance after the constitution are international contracts, laws and sub-statutory acts.

Political developments
The first elections in an independent Croatia were held between August 1992 � for the House of Representatives � and February 1993 � for the House of Counties. The ruling party � the Croatian Democratic Union � putting forward the nationality-issue and supported by widely manipulated media, obtained a striking success. Similar outcomes came from the 1995 parliamentary elections, while at the following local elections, held on the same year, the opposition resulted victorious in Zagreb. President Tudjiman, nevertheless, disallowed the result in order to prevent the capital city from being ruled by opposed political forces.
International observers in several occasions denounced political control over local media, with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe declaring electoral sessions void for failed compliance with basic international standards.

At the end of a decade marked by nationalist politics that had driven the country into a long-lasting conflict and a successive period of strong political and economic instability, the citizens of Croatia decided to opt for a political alternative. After the death of Tudjman in December 1999, new presidential elections were issued. Year 2000 opened in fact with a victory of the left-wing coalition composed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Croatian Social-Liberal Party (HSLS), the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), the Liberal Party (LS) and the Croatian People�s Party (HNS). In this occasion, the HDZ lost 21 percent of its previous support.
The newly elected president Stipe Mesic � last president of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia � appointed Ivica Racan (SDP) as new prime minister. Racan has immediately started a season of reforms in order to provide the political system with the needed �checks and balances� that had been eradicated by the Tudjman�s regime. The parliament has regained the powers habitually attributed to such institution in a parliamentary republic, whereas during the HDZ period it had been relegated to a marginal role of formalisation of decisions adopted by different institutions.

The left-wing government is facing a series of delicate issues: combating the economic recession fruit of an authentic looting of the public financial resources carried out by the previously ruling political class; reinforcing the democratisation process through the strengthening of the political institutions; pursuing the already undertaken path towards the European integration; and implementing a legislation respectful of minority rights in order to guarantee the return of the minority groups still forcibly displaced out of the country.

Ivo Sanader was appointed prime minister after his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won the country's general election in late November 2003.
Stjepan Mesic has been voted a second term president in 2005 presidential elections in a presidential run against Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). These were the first elections in post-war Croatia that were not monitored by the Election Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Croatia�s State Election Committee (SEC).

Croatia became an official EU candidate in June. European leaders set March 2005 as a starting date for the country's accession talks. However, they made the decision conditional on Zagreb's full co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal, particularly the handover of retired General Ante Gotovina, one of the tribunal's three most-wanted indictees.

Useful links:

Presidents of Croatia

Croatian Politics