Josip Leko (born 19 September 1948) is a

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 ...

n politician who served as

Speaker of the Croatian Parliament The speaker of the Croatian Parliament (, literally the president of the Croatian Parliament) is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer in the Croatian Parliament, Croatia's legislative body. Under Article 97 of the constitution of Croatia, ...

from 2012 to 2015.

Biography

He was born in 1948 in

Plavna Plavna (Serbian Cyrillic: Плавна) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Bač municipality, in the South Bačka District, Vojvodina province. Its population is ethnically mixed and numbering 1,392 people (2002 census). Name In Serb ...

village ( Bač municipality) in

Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...

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 ...

(then

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

) to a Croatian family from Ledinac near

Grude Grude () is a town and a municipality located in West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geography Grude is located 49 kilometers from Mostar, 19 kilometers from Imotski, and 1 ...

in western Herzegovina. When he was one and a half years old the family returned to

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

. He finished high school in Herzegovina and went to

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

where he got a major in law. On 19 June 2012 he became a president of the Executive Council of the

Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (, SDP) is a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is Anti-fascism, anti-fascist, Progressivism, progressive, and strongly Pro-Europeanism, pro-European. The SDP was forme ...

. When in 2013 he became the Speaker of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

he became the first

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

from

to hold such a high position in Croatian politics.

Career

Leko was deputy speaker from 23 December 2011 to 30 September 2012, when he succeeded Boris Šprem, who died in office, as interim speaker. He had already been acting as speaker during Šprem's absence due to cancer treatment in Houston, Texas. He was proposed as the permanent Speaker of the Parliament by the ruling coalition and was confirmed on 10 October 2012, by a vote of 123 parliamentarians out of 151. On 3 June 2016, Croatian Parliament appointed him as a justice of the

Constitutional Court of Croatia The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia () is an institution that acts as the interpreter and guardian of the Croatian Constitution and which monitors the conformity of laws with the Constitution as well as protection of human rights ...

and he took his position on 7 June.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leko, Josip 1948 births Living people Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians Speakers of the Croatian Parliament Bač, Serbia Croats of Vojvodina