Croatian parliamentary election, 2000
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Elections for the Chamber of Representatives of Croatian Parliament were held on January 3rd, 2000.
Those were the first elections to be held after the previous Chamber had their full term expired.
Ruling Croatian Democratic Union entered elections weakened by Zagreb Crisis, street protests and the series of corruption scandals that came to light in previous period. But the most important factor was deteriorating health of its leader and Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, which sparked succession struggle between various factions within party.
On the other side, two major Croatian opposition parties - Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Croatian Social Liberal Party - had their coalition formally agreed in 1998 and spent more than a year preparing for elections. At first, they were to run together with Croatian Peasant Party, Croatian People's Party, Istrian Democratic Assembly and Liberal Party. But, as Tuđman's condition worsened, leaders of SDP and HSLS concluded that they could win elections even without those four other parties which later formed separate bloc.
Like before all previous elections, electoral laws were altered in order to improve chances for ruling party. This included new voting system. For the first, First Past the Post was completely abandoned and Proportional Representation implemented (with exception of single ethnic minority seats). Croatia was divided into ten electoral districts, all drawn in order to maximise support for HDZ. Each district had to elect 14 members, with candidates' lists having to win more than 5 % votes in order to be represented in Sabor.
Due to Tuđman's illness and death, the actual date of elections have been repeatedly postponed for constitutional reasons. There were speculations about elections being held during Christmas holidays - in order to have as much Croatian expatriates, traditional HDZ supporters, in country - but the date of January 3rd was chosen as most suitable.
As the day of the elections approached, its outcome was becoming more certain. The campaign was brief and relatively uneventful, with HDZ being visibly weakened and demoralised by the death of its long-term leader. On the actual day of elections the turnout - biggest since 1990 - also indicated Croatian people's desire to have their government changed.
In the end, coalition of SDP-HSLS, together with bloc of four other parties, won comfortable majority and few weeks later Ivica Račan became new Croatian prime minister.
[edit] Summary of votes and seats
| Party | Party List votes | Vote percentage | Total Seats | Seat percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSP | 152,699 | 5.19% | 5 | 3.31% | |
| HDZ | 784,192 | 26.66% | 46 | 30.46% | |
| HSS-IDS/DDI-LS-HNS-ASH | 432,527 | 14.70% | 25 | 16.55% | |
| HSLS | 347,590 | 11.82% | 22 | 14.57% | |
| SDP | 790,728 | 26.88% | 49 | 32.45% | |
| Others | 392,209 | 13.33% | 4 | 2.65% | |
| Totals | 2,941,306 | 151 |
| Elections in Croatia |
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Parliamentary: 1990 | 1992 | 1995 | 2000 | 2003 | 2007 |
