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

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

Christian-democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

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

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. 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 is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

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 multi-party elections held in Croatia since 1938 Yugoslavian parliamentary ...

, 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 Liberalism, liberal parties formed on the eve of Croatian parliamentary election, 1990, first multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990. The Coalition was initia ...

. 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 Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 2 August 1992,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p410 alongside 1992 Croatian presidential election, presidential elections. They were the first electio ...

, HKDS, running on its own ticket, failed to enter Croatian Parliament, while its leader

Ivan Cesar Ivan Cesar (9 May 1936 – 26 November 1993) was a Croatian politician. In 1990 he was the founder and the leader of Croatian Christian Democratic Party (HKDS). In the 1992 presidential elections in Croatia he ran as a candidate, finishing 7th. ...

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, 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) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

and his

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

. 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 , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

during the opening stages of the Croatian war. 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 (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

. 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 () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

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 Marko Veselica (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, party ceased to exist and majority of member decided to 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 Christian democratic parties in Europe Conservative parties in Croatia Croatian nationalist parties Defunct nationalist parties in Croatia National conservative parties Political parties established in 1992 Right-wing parties in Europe 1992 establishments in Croatia