The Croatian Christian Democratic Union ( or HKDU) is a minor

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. It was founded in 1992 after the merger of Croatian Democratic Party (HDS) and the Croatian Christian Democratic Party (HKDS).

Origins

The Croatian Christian Democratic Party (''Hrvatska kršćanska demokratska stranka, HKDS'') was created in 1989 and modelled after the

parties of Western Europe, although, due to specific circumstances of early 1990s Croatia, it had more right wing than

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

rhetoric. In the

1990 Croatian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in the Socialist Republic of Croatia between 22 and 23 April 1990; the second round of voting occurred on 6–7 May. These were the first free, multi-party elections held in Croatia since 1938, and the first such e ...

, it joined a bloc of moderate nationalists called the

Coalition of People's Accord Coalition of People's Accord (, KNS) was the bloc of mostly moderate nationalist and liberal parties formed on the eve of first multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990. The Coalition was initiated by ex-communists Savka Dabčević-Kučar and ...

. Like all parties of that bloc, it fared badly, but one year later it held a ministerial post in the "National Unity" government of Franjo Gregurić. In the 1992 Croatian parliamentary election, HKDS, running on its own ticket, failed to enter Croatian Parliament, while its leader Ivan Cesar finished seventh in presidential race. This fiasco led HKDS to unite with Croatian Democratic Party (HDS). A dissident faction of the HKDS continued to operate under the party's old name. The Croatian Democratic Party (''Hrvatska demokratska stranka, HDS'') was a

party that was among the first to be founded after the arrival of multi-party democracy in Croatia. Led by veteran Communist-era dissident

Marko Veselica Marko Veselica (January 9, 1936 – February 17, 2017 in Zagreb) was a Croatian politician, economist and university professor. During the Croatian Spring, Marko Veselica developed a reputation of being a Croatian nationalist. He was close to I ...

, HDS was supposed to be the focal point for the most radical Croatian nationalists. This spot was, however, taken by

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

and his

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cr ...

. HDS instead joined moderate

and, consequently, fared badly in the

. After the 1990 election, HDS tried to live to its radical reputation by harshly criticising Tuđman's government for the perceived appeasement of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

and

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

during the opening stages of the

Croatian war The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

. When the war escalated in the summer of 1991, HDS was nevertheless admitted into the "National Unity" government of

Franjo Gregurić Franjo Gregurić (; born 12 October 1939) is a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from July 1991 to September 1992 leading a national unity government at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence. Gregurić was ...

. In less than a year, HDS lost its reputation as the most radical Croatian party to the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonomy ...

. This was reflected on the 1992 presidential and parliamentary elections, which led HDS to merge with the Croatian Christian Democratic Party (HKDS).

History

The Croatian Christian Democratic Union was represented in

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sa ...

between 1995 and 2003: * 3rd assembly (1995-1999) - one member of parliament * 4th assembly (2000-2003) - one member of parliament Long-time presidents of the party were

(1992-2001) and

Anto Kovačević Anto Kovačević (21 March 1952 – 14 November 2020) was a Croatian philosopher, publicist and politician. A native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovačević earned a Ph.D. degree from the University of Vienna. He entered Croatian politics in ear ...

(2001-2007). In 2007, the party held a new "founding assembly" (osnivački sabor) and elected Željko Nuić as its new president, who criticized the former presidents Petar Ćurlin, Marko Veselica and Anto Kovačević as failures of the party.

Electoral history

Legislative

References

External links

* {{Authority control Catholic political parties Conservative parties in Croatia Political parties established in 1992 Christian democratic parties in Europe 1992 establishments in Croatia Right-wing parties in Europe National conservative parties