Prime Minister of Croatia

President of the Government of Croatia
Predsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske

Coat of Arms of Croatia
Incumbent
Zoran Milanović
since 23 December 2011
Appointer President of the Republic
Inaugural holder Stjepan Mesić
Formation 30 May 1990
Website www.vlada.hr
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The Prime Minister of Croatia, officially the President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Predsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske), is Croatia's head of government, and is the de facto most powerful and influential state officeholder in the Croatian system of government. Following the first-time establishment of the office in 1945, the 1990-2001 semi-presidential period is the only exception where the President of Croatia held de facto authority. In the formal Croatian order of precedence, however, the position of prime minister is the third highest state office, after the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the Parliament.

The Constitution of Croatia prescribes that the Parliament "supervises" the Government (Article 81) and that the President of the Republic "ensures the regular and balanced functioning and stability of government" (as a whole; Article 94), while the Government is introduced in Article 108.[1] Since 2000, the prime minister has had various added constitutional powers and is mentioned before the Government itself in the text of the Constitution, in Articles 87, 97, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104.[1] The current Prime Minister of Croatia is Zoran Milanović. The Government of Croatia meets in Banski dvori, a historical building located on the west side of St. Mark's Square in Zagreb.

Name

The official name of the office, literally translated, is "President of the Government" (Predsjednik Vlade), rather than "Prime Minister" (Prvi Ministar). When the office was first established in 1945, the name "President of the Government" was introduced. The name of the office was changed 8 years later with the Yugoslav constitutional reforms of 1953, into "President of the Executive Council" (Predsjednik Izvršnog Vijeća). After another round of constitutional reforms in 1990, the office was renamed back to its original 1945-1953 title of "President of the Government". For all periods, however, the term "Prime Minister" is ubiquitous in English-language usage.

History

The first Prime Minister of Croatia was Vladimir Bakarić, who assumed the position on 14 April 1945. The position was then, as it is today, the most powerful public office in the state (the only exception in that regard is the 1990-2000 semi-presidential period, during which the President was the most significant figure). In post-World War II Croatia, which was at the time a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, a single-party system was in place. During this time there were twelve heads of government, all from the ranks of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ), which was reformed and renamed into the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) in 1952. The federal party was organized into six sub-organizations - the republic parties, one for each of the six federal republics. Croatian politicians and prime ministers of the period were members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia through their membership in the League of Communists of Croatia (SKH), the Croatian part of the federal party (as was respectively the case with all Yugoslav politicians). The office remained the central post of Croatian politics in spite of the institution of a collective Presidency in 1974 (previously the mostly-nominal function of the head of state belonged to the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, the Sabor).

After the constitutional amendments that allowed for multi-party elections in Croatia, the Parliament enacted amendments to the constitution (25 July) which eliminated socialist references and adopted new national symbols. The newly elected tricameral Parliament proceeded to change the Constitution of Croatia, and on 22 December 1990, this so-called "Christmas Constitution" fundamentally defined the Republic of Croatia and its governmental structure. Since the 1990 constitution Croatia was a semi-presidential republic, which meant the President of Croatia had broad executive powers, including naming the Prime Minister and dissolving the government. During this period, lasting until 2000/2001, Croatia had nine prime ministers. The first Prime Minister of Croatia since the 1990 constitutional reforms was Stjepan Mesić, assuming office on 30 May 1990.[2][3]

Croatia proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991 following the May 1991 independence referendum. However, the country then signed the July 1991 Brijuni Agreement in which it agreed to postpone the formal declaration of independence for three months. Meanwhile, the Croatian War of Independence ensued, and Franjo Gregurić was appointed to lead a Government of National Unity. In October the same year, Croatia formally declared independence, with Gregurić continuing on as the first prime minister of Croatia after the secession from Yugoslavia.

Following the January 2000 general election the winning centre-left coalition led by the Social Democratic Party amended the Constitution and effectively stripped the President of most of his executive powers, strengthening the role of the Parliament and the Prime Minister, turning Croatia into a parliamentary republic. The Prime Minister again (as before 1990) became the foremost post in Croatian politics.

List

      League of Communists of Yugoslavia       League of Communists of Croatia       Croatian Democratic Union       Social Democratic Party

No. Name
(Born-Died)		 Portrait Term of Office Political party Election(s) Cabinet
Took Office Left Office Duration
N/A Pavle Gregorić[4]
(1892-1989)		 7 March 1945 14 April 1945 39 days Communist Party of Yugoslavia — Gregorić
1 Vladimir Bakarić
(1912–1983)		 14 April 1945 December 1953 8 years, 7 months, 18 days Communist Party of Yugoslavia
(party renamed in 1952)
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(party renamed in 1952)		 — Bakarić
2 Jakov Blažević
(1912–1996)		 December 1953 July 1962 8 years, 7 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Blažević
3 Zvonko Brkić
(1912–1977)		 July 1962 June 1963 11 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Brkić
4 Mika Špiljak
(1916–2007)		 June 1963 May 1967 3 years, 11 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Špiljak
5 Savka Dabčević-Kučar
(1923–2009)		 May 1967 May 1969 2 years League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Dabčević-Kučar
6 Dragutin Haramija
(1923–2012)		 May 1969 December 1971 2 years, 7 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Haramija
7 Ivo Perišin
(1925–2008)		 December 1971 April 1974 2 years, 4 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Perišin
8 Jakov Sirotković
(1922–2002)		 April 1974 9 May 1978 4 years, 1 month League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Sirotković
9 Petar Fleković
(1932–)		 9 May 1978 July 1980 2 years, 2 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Fleković
10 Ante Marković
(1924–2011)		 July 1980 November 1985 5 years, 4 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Marković
11 Ema Derossi-Bjelajac
(1926–)		 November 1985 10 May 1986 6 months League of Communists of Yugoslavia — Derossi-Bjelajac
12 Antun Milović
(1934–2008)		 10 May 1986 30 May 1990 4 years, 21 days League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(until January 1990)
League of Communists of Croatia
(from January 1990) 		— Milović
Following the 1990 parliamentary election and constitutional reforms
1
(13)		 Stjepan Mesić
(1934-)		 30 May 1990 24 August 1990 86 days Croatian Democratic Union 1990 Mesić
2
(14)		 Josip Manolić
(1920–)		 24 August 1990 17 July 1991 327 days Croatian Democratic Union — Manolić
3
(15)		 Franjo Gregurić
(1939–)		 17 July 1991 12 August 1992 1 year, 26 days Croatian Democratic Union — Gregurić
4
(16)		 Hrvoje Šarinić
(1935–)		 12 August 1992 3 April 1993 1 year, 234 days Croatian Democratic Union 1992 Šarinić
5
(17)		 Nikica Valentić
(1950–)		 3 April 1993 7 November 1995 2 years, 218 days Croatian Democratic Union — Valentić
6
(18)		 Zlatko Mateša
(1949–)		 7 November 1995 27 January 2000 4 years, 81 days Croatian Democratic Union 1995 Mateša
7
(19)		 Ivica Račan
(1944–2007)		 27 January 2000 30 July 2002 3 years, 330 days Social Democratic Party 2000[5] Račan I
30 July 2002 23 December 2003 Račan II
8
(20)		 Ivo Sanader
(1953–)		 23 December 2003 12 January 2008 5 years, 195 days Croatian Democratic Union 2003 Sanader I
12 January 2008 6 July 2009 2007 Sanader II
9
(21)		 Jadranka Kosor
(1953–)		 6 July 2009 23 December 2011 2 years, 170 days Croatian Democratic Union — Kosor
10
(22)		 Zoran Milanović
(1966–)		 23 December 2011 Incumbent 3 years, 127 days Social Democratic Party 2011 Milanović

Statistics

# Prime Minister Date of birth Age at ascension
(first term)		 Time in office
(total)		 Age at retirement
(last term)		 Date of death Longevity
1 Stjepan Mesić December 24, 1934 55 years, 157 days 0 years, 86 days 55 years, 243 days Living 80 years, 126 days (Living)
2 Josip Manolić March 22, 1920 70 years, 155 days 0 years, 327 days 71 years, 117 days Living 95 years, 38 days (Living)
3 Franjo Gregurić October 12, 1939 51 years, 278 days 1 year, 26 days 52 years, 305 days Living 75 years, 199 days (Living)
4 Hrvoje Šarinić February 17, 1935 57 years, 177 days 0 years, 234 days 58 years, 45 days Living 80 years, 71 days (Living)
5 Nikica Valentić November 24, 1950 42 years, 130 days 2 years, 218 days 44 years, 348 days Living 64 years, 156 days (Living)
6 Zlatko Mateša June 17, 1949 46 years, 143 days 4 years, 81 days 50 years, 224 days Living 65 years, 316 days (Living)
7 Ivica Račan February 24, 1944 55 years, 337 days 3 years, 330 days 59 years, 302 days April 29, 2007 63 years, 64 days
8 Ivo Sanader June 8, 1953 50 years, 198 days 5 years, 195 days 56 years, 28 days Living 61 years, 325 days (Living)
9 Jadranka Kosor July 1, 1953 56 years, 5 days 2 years, 170 days 58 years, 175 days Living 61 years, 302 days (Living)
10 Zoran Milanović October 30, 1966 45 years, 54 days 3 years, 127 days (Ongoing) Incumbent Living 48 years, 181 days (Living)

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (consolidated text)". Croatian Parliament. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  2. ↑ "Chronology of Croatian governments" (in Croatian). Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency. Retrieved 2011-05-13.
  3. ↑ "Prethodne Vlade RH" [Former Governments of the Republic of Croatia] (in Croatian). Croatian Government. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  4. ↑ De facto prime minister. Pavle Gregorić was Minister for Croatia, temporary representative for Croatia in the Yugoslav federal government.
  5. ↑ After the changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia the country moved from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary system, making the Prime Minister the most powerful office in the country.