Republic of Croatia: Parliament, 11 September 2016

At stake in this election:

• 151 seats in the Hrvatski Sabor (Assembly)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIĆ (since 19 February 2015)
• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Tihomir OREŠKOVIĆ (since 16 June 2016)[1]
• Assembly: Croatia has a unicameral Hrvatski Sabor (Assembly) composed of 151 seats with members serving 4-year terms.

Description of electoral system:

• Members of the Assembly are directly elected by party-list proportional representation vote.

Last Election:

• Elections for the Assembly were last held on 8 November 2015. However, Prime Minister OREŠKOVIĆ was ousted by members of the Assembly and the government was dissolved, necessitating new elections to be held.

Main parties in the election:

• Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)/Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica

  • Leader: Andrej PLENKOVIČ

  • Seats won in last election: 56

• Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP)/Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske

  • Leader: Zoran MILANOVIĆ

  • Seats won in last election: 56

• Croatian Party of Rights – dr. Ante Starčević (HSP AS)/Hrvatska Stranka Prava dr. Ante Starčević

  • Leader: Ivan TEPEŠ

  • Seats won in last election: 3

• Bridge of Independent Lists (Most-NL)/Most Nezavisnih Lista

  • Leader: Božo PETROV

  • Seats won in last election: 16

• Croatian People’s Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS)/Hrvatska narodna stranka - Liberalni Demokrat

  • Leader: Vesna PUSIĆ

  • Seats won in last election: 9

• Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS)/Istarski Demokratski Sabor

  • Leader: Boris MILETIĆ

  • Seats won in last election: 3

• Croatian Laborists – Labor Party/Hrvatski laburisti - Stranka Rada

  • Leader: Nansi TIRELI

  • Seats won in last election: 3

• Croatian Democratic Congress of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB)/Hrvatski Demokratski Sabor Slavonije i Baranje

  • Leader: Dragan VULIN

  • Seats won in last election: 2

• Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS)/Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka

  • Leader: Darinko KOSOR

  • Seats won in last election: 2

• Croatian Pensioner Party (HSU)/Hrvatska Stranka Umirovljenika  

  • Leader: Silvano HRELJA

  • Seats won in last election: 2

• Croatian Peasant Party (HSS)/Hrvatska seljačka stranka

  • Leader: Krešo BELJAK

  • Seats won in last election: 0

• “For Prime Minister” Coalition[2]

  • Leader: Milan Bandić

  • Seats won in last election: 0

*Note: In the 2015 election, several political parties joined to form coalitions.

• The Croatia is Growing coalition was formed by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, Croatian People’s Party – Liberal Democrats, Croatian Pensioner Party, Authentic Croatian Peasant Party, and Zagorje Party.
• The Patriotic Coalition was formed by the Croatian Democratic Union, the Croatian Peasant Party, the Croatian Party of Rights, the Party of Rights – Dr. Ante Starcevic, the Croatian Social Liberal Party, the Growth Party, the Christian Democratic Union, and the Democratic Party of Zagorje. However, this coalition has disbanded for the 2016 election.

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 4,464,844 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 3,788,788 (2015)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,311,758 (July 2015)

·         Is Croatia a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Croatia ratified CEDAW: Yes, succession (9 September 1992)

·         Gender Quota: Yes[3]

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 23 (15.23%)

·         Human Development Index Position: 47

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Croatia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Croatia ratified CRPD: Yes (15 August 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 669,727 (est.)