106th CONGRESS Printed for the use of the

2nd Session Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

A Report Prepared by the Staff of the

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

WASHINGTON:2000

CROATIAS PARLIAMENTARY

ELECTIONS

JANUARY 3, 2000
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EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

HAROLD HONGJU KOH, Department of State

EDWARD L. WARNER III, Department of Defense

PATRICK A. MULLOY, Department of Commerce

COMMISSION STAFF

DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Chief of Staff

RONALD J. MCNAMARA, Deputy Chief of Staff

BEN ANDERSON, Communications Director

ELIZABETH CAMPBELL, Office Administrator

OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor

JOHN F. FINERTY, Staff Advisor

CHADWICK R. GORE, Staff Advisor

ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor

JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor

MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel

KAREN S. LORD, Counsel for Freedom of Religion

MICHELE MADASZ, Staff Assistant/Systems Administrator

MICHAEL OCHS, Staff Advisor

ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law

MAUREEN WALSH, General Counsel

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

234 Ford House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515-6460

(202) 225-1901

csce@mail.house.gov

http://www.house.gov/csce/

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

SENATE

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Co-Chairman

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas

TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut

HOUSE

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman

FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia

MATT SALMON, Arizona

JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania

STENY H. HOYER, Maryland

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland

LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York

MICHAEL P. FORBES, New York
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ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION (OSCE)

The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki process, traces

its origin to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in Finland on August 1, 1975, by the leaders of 33

European countries, the United States and Canada. Since then, its membership has expanded to 55,

reflecting the breakup of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. (The Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, has been suspended since 1992, leaving the number of countries

fully participating at 54.) As of January 1, 1995, the formal name of the Helsinki process was changed to

the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE is engaged in standard setting in fields including military security, economic and environmental cooperation, and human rights and humanitarian concerns. In addition, it undertakes a variety

of preventive diplomacy initiatives designed to prevent, manage and resolve conflict within and among

the participating States.

The OSCE has its main office in Vienna, Austria, where weekly meetings of permanent representatives are held. In addition, specialized seminars and meetings are convened in various locations and

periodic consultations among Senior Officials, Ministers and Heads of State or Government are held.

ABOUT THE COMMISSION (CSCE)

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the Helsinki

Commission, is a U.S. Government agency created in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance with

the agreements of the OSCE.

The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. House of Representatives, nine members

from the U.S. Senate, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

The positions of Chair and Co-Chair are shared by the House and Senate and rotate every two years,

when a new Congress convenes. A professional staff assists the Commissioners in their work.

To fulfill its mandate, the Commission gathers and disseminates information on Helsinki-related

topics both to the U.S. Congress and the public by convening hearings, issuing reports reflecting the

views of the Commission and/or its staff, and providing information about the activities of the Helsinki

process and events in OSCE participating States.

At the same time, the Commission contributes its views to the general formulation of U.S. policy

on the OSCE and takes part in its execution, including through Member and staff participation on U.S.

Delegations to OSCE meetings as well as on certain OSCE bodies. Members of the Commission have

regular contact with parliamentarians, government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and private individuals from OSCE participating States.
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CONTENTS

Summary......................................................................................................................................... 1

Background..................................................................................................................................... 1

The Contest and the Contenders .................................................................................................... 3

The Election .................................................................................................................................... 5

Results ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 9
1

SUMMARY

 Parliamentary elections held in Croatia on January 3, 2000, were marked by increased fairness in

the election law, and greater transparency in election administration, allowed opposition parties

to win a majority. Nearly a decade of nationalist, authoritarian rule by the Croatian Democratic

Community (HDZ) of the late Croatian President, Franjo Tudjman, ended. Since April 1990

when it defeated the League of Communists which ruled Croatia since World War IIthe HDZ

maintained its grip on power through elections which were not blatantly fraudulent but nevertheless fell far short of the free and fair standard agreed to by OSCE participating States, including Croatia. There were signs throughout 1999 that the HDZ might resort to more blatant forms

of election rigging in light of growing popular sentiment for change, but the passing of Croatian

President Franjo Tudjman in December diminished the ability of the partys rank-and-file to

manipulate the results with impunity.

 On election day itself, the transparency of the electoral system, including widespread observation by civic organizations and political parties, was combined with such a strong desire for

change that the will of the people could not be distorted. For example, voter turnout was exceptionally high75 percentdespite the timing of the election. Performance of polling committees was professional. The chief exception to this were the electoral practices in the diaspora

vote held in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina, where incredibly high turnout was combined

with poor procedures in many of the 29 polling stations.

 The result was a clear victory for the leading opposition coalition of the Social Democratic Party

of Ivica Racan and the Croatian Social Liberal Party of Drazen Budisa, which won 71 of the 151

seats in the House of Representatives. A second coalition of the four remaining significant opposition parties also did well, winning 24 seats, and were invited into the new coalition government

with Racan as Prime Minister. Meanwhile, in elections held for a new President of the Republic,

the four-coalition candidate Stipe Mesic, from the Croatian Peoples Party, won in a second

round vote on February 7, 2000. The combined results bode well for a more democratic political

system in Croatia with diminished power for the presidency, greater cooperation with the International Tribunal in The Hague prosecuting war crimes, and progress in Dayton implementation

in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the return of Croatias own displaced Serb population.

BACKGROUND

Croatia achieved independence in 1991, separating from the former Yugoslavia of which its territory had been a part since 1918. Like Slovenia, Croatia was frustrated with the support required to

bolster the less prosperous Yugoslav republics. This was the underlying cause for the assertion of independence by the relatively new and nationalistic leadership of President Franjo Tudjman and his Croatian

Democratic Community (HDZ in Croatian). When the sensitivities within Croatias sizable Serb communitytraumatized by the victimization at the hands of Croatian fascists during World War IIwere

ignored, Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Serbia, took advantage of the situation and instigated a

conflict in the second half of 1991. Nearly 9,000 persons were killed and another 400,000 displaced as

one quarter of Croatian territory was seized by Serb militants with the active support of the Yugoslav

military.

From early 1992 until mid-1995, the occupied regions of Croatia remained outside of Zagrebs

control as U.N. peacekeeping efforts kept a relative peace but failed to return what had been taken by

force. Frustration over timid U.N. attempts to compel militant Serb cooperation was not limited to those

Croats who were displaced. A fairly nationalistic, and certainly anti-Yugoslav, polity developed in Croatia,
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to the detriment of those opposition parties which would have preferred a more politically liberal agenda.

Croatian policy fluctuated between joining Bosnias attempt to stop militant Serbs and accepting hundreds of thousands of Bosnian refugees on the one hand, and cooperating with Serbia and its militants in

dividing Bosnia-Herzegovina along ethnic lines on the other.

Political intervention by the United States in early 1994, along with a limited military effort by

NATO against Bosnian Serb militants, halted the war between Bosnian forces and militant Croats.

Croatia sought to retake militarily its own Serb-occupied areas, which it accomplished with relative ease

in May and August 1995. As many as 200,000 resident Serbs fled these regions en masse to Serboccupied Bosnia, Serbia or the still-occupied Eastern Slavonia region of Croatia. Croatias military

effort created momentum for a joint Bosnian-Croat push which retook significant portions of Serboccupied Bosnia. Combined with robust NATO air strikes against them, the Bosnian Serb militants that

seemed invincible only months earlier were forced to accept their losses and a settlement negotiated for

them by Serbian President Milosevic in late 1995, the Dayton Agreement. In parallel, an agreement

the Erdut Agreementwas reached for the reintegration of Eastern Slavonia after a period of transitional administration by the United Nations. This transition ended in 1998, but it was marred not only by

a slow process of Serb returns to Croatia but by a massive outflow of Serbs from Eastern Slavonia itself.

While there are no accurate figures, it is believed that, of Croatias 1991 Serb population of 600,000

peopleor 12 percent of Croatias total population of about 4.8 millionapproximately half live outside of Croatia as refugees, primarily in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Republika Srpska) and Serbia.

Throughout this period, Croatias ruling party developed authoritarian tendencies at home, converting nationalist sentiments into political support and restricting democratic development. These problems were evident in elections held in 1992, 1995 and 1997. The timing of these elections and the limited

length of the campaign period stretched beyond reasonable limits (albeit within the bounds of the law),

while transparency of the electoral apparatus was limited. Members of Croatias minority populations

saw their representation in parliament reduced, while some found it difficult even to register to vote. In

the meantime, Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina were given citizenship on the basis of their ethnicity

alone and given per capita representation beyond that of Croatian citizens themselves. Throughout the

1990s, independent media was severely restricted, while state-owned broadcast media showcased HDZ

activities. Given this manipulation, outright fraud on election day was unnecessary.

By late 1999, when the House of Representatives of the Croatian Sabor, or parliament, was expected to hold new elections, dynamics had changed significantly. More confident in the countrys

independence and territorial integrity, Croatian society began to move away from nationalism and acceptance of official corruption. There was a stronger desire for economic progress, and resentment over

those in power thwarting such progress. Revelations of Croatian atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in

the liberation of Serb-occupied territoriesalong with the trial of World War II concentration camp

head Dinko Sakicfurther moderated the public mood, separating widespread support for Croatian

independence from efforts to establish an ethnically pure or Greater Croatia.

Supplementing this social transition, the international community increasingly saw the lack of

democracy in Croatia as a factor contributing to instability in the region. The OSCE Mission in Croatia,

the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb and others began to press Croatian authorities more frequently on human
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rights and democratization issues. In the meantime, the opposition, composed of six major political

parties, was able to capitalize on the situation by uniting in pressing for electoral reforms and minimizing

competition among themselves through the formation of two electoral coalitions.

It remained an open question whether these changes would result in fairer elections, or whether a

desperate HDZ would resort to more blatant forms of election rigging than before. Indeed, there were

signs that election manipulation could happen, including scheduling elections on or near the Christmas

holiday; replacing in early December 1999 independent-minded Constitutional Court judges with HDZ

appointees who would have to decide on appeals of election foul-play; and maintaining some ambiguity

in the more proportional representation of the diaspora vote that would maximize the number of seats

coming from this vote. The steadily deteriorating health of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in late

1999 and his eventual death on December 10 may have, however, diminished the ability of the HDZ

rank-and-file to manipulate the results with impunity. His incapacitation, in fact, had precipitated a

constitutional crisis which led to the elections being postponed from the intended date of December 22,

1999. With his death, the HDZ lost whatever zeal it seemed to have had to ensure their victory.

THE CONTEST AND THE CONTENDERS

Contested in the January 3, 2000, Croatians elections were the seats in the House of Representatives of the bicameral Sabor. The House of Representatives is more powerful than the other parliamentary chamber, known as the House of Counties. The number of seats in the House of Representatives is

constitutionally required to range between 100 and 160, determined largely by the election law and

election results. Unlike the elections in 1992 and 1995, this election was required due to the expiration of

the mandates of the Houses members. Constitutionally, the elections were required by January 26,

2000.

In order to determine party representation in the House of Representatives, Croatia was divided

into 10 constituencies, or districts, each designated to have 14 seats. Within each constituency, seats

would be allocated proportionally, with voters casting ballots for closed party lists. The number of

registered voters in each constituency varied by less than 5 percent.

An eleventh constituency was established for Croatian citizens living abroadthe so-called diaspora votewith the number of seats determined according to voter turnout relative to voter turnouts

in the other constituencies. This was an improvement over the 1995 elections, in which the diaspora

were automatically given 12 seats in the House of Representatives, leading to gross over-representation.

The new method for determining the number of seats reflected a compromise sought by opposition

parties, based on the high likelihood that all diaspora seats would again go to the HDZ, and the

international community, which viewed the vote itself as swaying the loyalties of Bosnias Croat population. Nevertheless, the principle of such a vote remains questionable, and there were concerns going

into the elections regarding how the number of seats would be determined.

A twelfth constituency was also established for members of Croatias ethnic minorities. This constituency, however, was limited to five seats, one each for the Serb, Hungarian and Italian minorities,

one shared by the Czech and Slovak minority and the last shared by the Austrian, German, Ruthenian,

Ukrainian and Jewish minorities. On the one hand, many would question the need for specified minority

representation in parliament. On the other hand, Croatia has always had this representation since multiparty elections were introduced in 1990. The steady reduction of seats reserved for the Serb community
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since that time has been criticized. Originally, ethnic Serbs represented approximately 12 percent of

Croatias total population, but their departure during the period from 1991 to 1995 warranted, according

to Croatian officials, reduced representation. Many international critics countered that the steady lowering of representation demonstrated resistance to having these people return. Moreover, almost 279,000

registered Serb voters were being offered the same representation of only about 6,100 voters from the

Austrian, German, Ukrainian, Ruthenian and Jewish communities combined.

Competing for these 145-plus seats were 284 separate voting lists, including 55 political parties, 15

coalitions and 30 national minority candidates. Added together, these lists represented over 4,000 candidates.

Three of the lists were of country-wide significance. The first was that of the ruling party, the

Croatian Democratic Community, or HDZ according to its Croatian initials. The HDZ, founded in

1989 by the late President Tudjman, held power in the country without need of seeking governing

partners since the first multi-party elections in April 1990. It remained a relatively united political party

despite some leaders breaking away, but its base became increasingly fractured in later years. Indeed, the

HDZ was widely viewed as having more characteristics of a mass movement than a political party. In

recent years, a split developed, accentuated by Tudjmans failing health, between moderate technocrats and nationalist hardliners who had little in common other than a desire to be in power. Meanwhile,

the HDZ began to decline in public favor due to widespread corruption which could not be hidden

despite media controls. The decline also reflected a drop in support for nationalist aims.

The principal opposition was composed of six parties, which coordinated their election positions

but campaigned as two separate electoral coalitions. The largest of the two coalitions consisted of the

Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by Ivica Racan, and the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), led

by Drazen Budisa. The SDP is the successor of the League of Communists of Croatia which had ruled

the republic during the Tito or communist era from World War II to1990. Since losing power, it had

thoroughly reformed itself into a West European-style social-democratic party of the left, burdened

more by its Yugoslav heritage than its ideological bent for most of the 1990s. The HSLS was actually

the leading opposition party in Croatia during this time. Budisa, imprisoned during the communist

period for his role as a student leader in the Croatian Spring of 1971, crushed by Tito, had clear

opposition credentials, but the party failed to draw a large following in the first years of independence.

The party had grown in more recent years, but fell victim to internal disputes which led several party

activists to split and form their own Liberal Party in late 1997. The Liberal Party is one of the other major

opposition parties, and with the three others formed a coalition separate from the SDP-HSLS alliance.

The other members of this, smaller coalition included the Croatian Peoples Party (HNS) and the Croatian

Peasants Party (HSS), both of which have long been opposition parties with credible support but unable

genuinely to challenge the HDZ, and the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), an important regional

party based in the Istrian Peninsula on the Adriatic coast.

Most other political parties were either regionally based or less influential Croatian parties of the

right, including the once popular Croatian Party of Rights, which never succeeded in outflanking the

HDZ politically. Within the confines of the Serb community, however, two parties vied for dominance.

The Serbian Peoples Party (SNS), led by Milan Djukic, sought to represent those Serbs who always

considered Croatia their home, and have, for the most part, been integrated into Croatian society, but

often faced discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity. The Independent Serbian Democratic Party
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(SDSS), unlike the SNS, was founded after all Serb-occupied territories except Eastern Slavonia were

retaken in 1995. Various political parties among the Serb population cast aside their differences and

united in this party under the leadership of Borislav Stanimirovic, and have since sought some accommodation with Croatia as Eastern Slavonia was reintegrated into the country in 1998.

THE ELECTION

In the beginning of 1999, the Croatian political leadership remained sufficiently authoritarian in its

outlook that the prospects for even reasonably free and fair elections seemed bleak. Public statements

frequently attacked independent and opposition activists as fundamentally anti-Croat and supported by

international actors working against Croatias national interests. These statements were presented to the

Croatian public through the state-owned and government-influenced Croatian Radio and Television as

well as similar print media outlets, while opposition political parties and their activities and views were

given for less frequent coverage. Furthermore, legal action against independent media which tried to

present alternative views or focus on official corruption in the country continued. Hundreds of libel suits,

for example, were initiated in Croatian courts. While a number of such cases were ultimately dismissed,

they further financially burdened many of the more prominent independent print media, such as Nacional

and Feral Tribune, and discouraged the growth of all types of media with the threat of incurring the

governments wrath.

The Croatian public, though, had moved away from standard HDZ positions, and it proved too

sophisticated to be manipulated strongly by such blatant controls on information. As a result, HDZ

popularity withered considerably by the summer of 1999, when preparations for the elections began.

Under pressure to loosen its grip on political power, the HDZ signed a May 25, 1999, agreement

with the six opposition parties on basic principles for holding parliamentary elections, including restructuring of the state-owned broadcast media. Disagreement over the extent of electoral reform, however,

failed to produce a new law by the time the Sabor recessed for the summer. In October, the HDZ

submitted its own draft election law, which passed in amended form. While the election law and a law on

electoral constituencies passed at about the same time represented an improvement over existing law

especially in reducing the number of constituencies, making diaspora representation proportional, and

permitting domestic election observersthe laws nevertheless fell short of what the international community and the opposition had sought, especially in regard to the media. A code of conduct, however,

was adopted to guide the state broadcaster, Croatian Radio and Television (HRT).

By the early autumn of 1999, the campaign period had unofficially begun, as President Tudjman

did not formally call the elections. At one point, it was suggested that the elections be called for December 26, but protests, including from Croatias Roman Catholic Church leaders, led to further discussion.

The date of December 22 was then announced, but the Presidents deteriorating health and the absence

of constitutional authority to transfer his powers temporarily to the Speaker of the Sabor allowed November 22 to pass without the formal calling of elections 30 days in advance as required. A Constitutional Law was eventually passed allowing for the temporary transfer of presidential power, prior to

President Tudjmans actual passing on December 10. On November 27, 1999, the elections were called

for January 3, 2000.
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The holding of elections around the Christmas holidays, though not completely without precedent,

was rare enough to be considered irregular. It was clear that the HDZ wanted the elections after midDecember, when changes in the composition of the Constitutional Court would be made. Some theorized that the HDZ also targeted the elections for this time in order to increase the ability of its own

supporters to vote relative to those of the opposition, to allow its campaign to infiltrate holiday celebrations in local parishes and potentially to reduce the number of international observers. Similar considerations are believed to have gone into the decision to hold the 1992 elections in August, equally rare in

Europe. Combined with the hallmark shortening of the campaign to that required by law, Croatia continued to violate not necessarily the letter, but certainly the spirit, of international standards for free and fair

elections.

Once the campaign began, however, the situation improved markedly over previous election periods. President Tudjmans death and funeral were accompanied by national mourning over one acknowledged even by his detractors to have successfully led Croatia to independent statehood. Attempts to

capitalize on his death, however, did not materialize, and the campaign resumed as preparations began

for subsequent presidential elections. Moreover, the situation brought no clear successor leadership

within the HDZ, which began to flounder. The HDZ no longer actively sought to manipulate the campaign. Instead, it attempted to project a fatalistic image of Croatia not capable of change, in the hope this

would lower voter turnout and increase its representation in the new House of Representatives. In contrast, the opposition stressed the advent of change, making strong statements about ending support for

nationalistic Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina and purging official corruption, both major drains on the

Croatian economy. There was also a willingness to cooperate in implementing the Dayton Agreement in

Bosnia-Herzegovina and in dealing with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

on war crimes issues. Both had important implications for Croatias European integration. Finally, although not stressed during the campaign, opposition leaders indicated that efforts to prevent Serbs from

returning to Croatia would end.

Although not as blatant as in previous elections, the broadcast medias news programs during the

campaign continued to favor the ruling HDZ, both in terms of the amount of coverage and the tone of the

reporting. Croat-run media in Bosnia-Herzegovina was significantly more biased in favor of the HDZ.

In Croatia, however, opposition parties were able to utilize private broadcast media to counter this

favoritism, and the print media covered the campaign in a significantly more comprehensive manner.

Parties were able to place campaign advertisements on television in a relatively fair manner. Similarly,

campaign rallies took place throughout the country without major incident.

In addition, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), known as Glas 99, engaged in

a major get-out-the-vote campaign. The population was encouraged to participate so they could take

control of their futures. While the effort was non-partisan, in effect Glas 99 countered the HDZs

message that change could not occur.

The roughly 6,500 polling stations in Croatia opened on January 3 at 7:00 a.m. and remained open

for 12 hours. Political parties were permitted to have representatives on the polling committees, as well

as party observers. In most cases, this was the actual practice. In addition, with domestic, civic observers

now permitted, 12 NGOs were able to field observers. One of the NGOs, Citizens Out to Observe the

Vote (known by its Croatian acronym GONG), fielded a very large number of observers and was able
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to do a parallel count of the results after the voting had concluded. The Organization for Security and

Cooperations (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights fielded more than 350

international observers.

During the course of the day, voting proceeded in a generally normal manner. The added transparency gave the contenders confidence in the system, and the political change in Croatia precipitated by

the passing of Tudjman eliminated much of the fear and tension that otherwise might have been present.

Moreover, while previous elections in Croatia did not meet the free and fair standards established by the

OSCE and the international community, traditionally polling committees had carried out their duties in

a professional manner. Voter registration lists were generally accurate, and proper safeguards were in

place regarding voter identification. Acceptable procedures were in place for military personnel and

prison inmates to vote, as well as for those unable to appear at the polling station on election day due to

incapacitating illness.

Members of national minorities generally faced no intimidation, and 75 percent of those who

turned out to vote chose to do so on the basis of the regional and not minority constituency ballots,

probably assuming that such a vote would most likely have the greatest impact on their situation. Some

voters objected to being placed on a minority list in the first place. The degree of switching from minority to regular constituency voting was sufficient to increase the variation of voters votingas opposed

to voters registered between regular constituencies to almost 13 percent.

There was, however, concern about discrimination against displaced Serbs, who are differentiated from expelled Croats. While the two designations is itself considered discriminatory, the situation

was worsened by alleged underestimation of the number of displaced persons and the provision of

disproportionately fewer polling stations for their voting.

The most common problems sighted by observers were inadequate privacy for voting in some

polling stations and a continuation of the practice of family and some group voting. Very few problems

were encountered with the counting of ballots.

Outside of Croatia, voting was conducted over a two day periodJanuary 2 and 3 in 79 different

countries but the most significant number of voters was in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. In order to

maintain more control over the procedures outside of Croatia, the number of polling stations in BosniaHerzegovina was reduced from hundreds in 1995 to only 29 in 2000. Turnout was very heavy, especially

for the diaspora vote in western Herzegovina, and international observers noted some more serious

irregularities, including double voting, proxy voting, improper processing of voters and attempts to

influence voters. Seventeen percent of those who voted in Bosnia-Herzegovina had their names added to

the voter registration lists on election day. Meanwhile, the number of ballots made available for constituencies where Serb refugees from Croatia originally resided were severely limited, although, in the end,

turnout from this population was relatively small.

Only 11 polling stations had to organize reruns, due to a higher number of ballots in the ballot box

than the number of voters indicated as having voted. The discrepancy was small, and the reruns on

January 16 confirmed the earlier outcome.
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RESULTS

Voter turnout for the elections was an exceptionally high 75.3 percent of the estimated 3.8 million

registered voters. The fact that 98 percent of those ballots cast were valid further underscored the seriousness with which the voters took the elections and the quality of the procedures. Turnout of ethnic

Serb voters, however, was just under 50 percent of those registered.

Based on the ratio of total number of voters in the eleventh constituency to the average of the totals

for the 10 regular constituencies, six seats were allocated for the diaspora vote, half that which existed

in the previous House of Representatives. Combined with the 140 for the 10 regular constituencies and

the twelfth, or minority, constituency, the total number of seats allocated for the new House of Representatives was 151.

The result was a clear victory for the opposition SDP-HSLS coalition, a win larger than expected.

The second coalition of four other opposition parties also did well, winning 24 seats, and were invited

into the new coalition government with SDP head Ivica Racan serving as Prime Minister. The HDZ,

which had ruled Croatia since 1990, did better than the second coalitionin part by winning all six of

the diaspora seatsbut became the new opposition. Seats were allocated as follows:

Meanwhile, in elections held for a new President of the Republic, the four-party coalition candidate

from the Croatian Peoples Party (HNS), former Yugoslav President and HDZ official Stipe Mesic,

defeated HSLS leader Drazen Budisa in a second round vote on February 7, 2000. Mesic began in third

placefollowing Budisa and the former Foreign Minister, Mate Granic, running as the candidate of the

HDZin a nine-candidate first round on January 24. Both Mesic and Budisa presented views along the

lines of Racan supporting a more democratic political system with diminished power for the presidency,

greater cooperation with the international tribunal prosecuting war crimes in The Hague, and progress in

Dayton implementation in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as the return of Croatias own displaced Serb

population. Mesic actually seemed stronger on these points during the campaign, but it remains to be

Coalition/Party Seats

Social Democratic Party (SDP)/

Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS)

71

Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) 46

Croatian Peasants Party (HSS)/Croatian

People’s Party (HNS)/Liberal Party (LS)/

Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS)

24

Croatian Party of Rights (HSP)/

Croatian Christian Democratic Union

(HKDU)

5

Minority Candidates 5

Total 151
9

seen how well he will actually work with Prime Minister Racan. The presidential election was administered even better than the parliamentary elections, according to OSCE Election Mission statements,

although continued irregularities in voting in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first round led to the replacement of 18 voting committees before the second round two weeks later.

CONCLUSION

The OSCEs Election Observation Mission concluded that the January 2000 parliamentary elections marked progress for Croatia towards meeting its commitments as a participating State of the

OSCE and as a member of the Council of Europe. The problems that did occur were, in large part, the

residual effects of an authoritarian regime and were insufficient to change the outcome. Moreover, it can

be expected that Croatias new leadership will correct the deficiencies observed and reported.

The changes taking place in Croatia have been universally applauded, including by Secretary of

State Madeleine Albright in her visit to Croatia on February 2, 2000. The resulting political change in

Croatia has produced high expectations among the international community for the country in the near

future, especially in terms of Serb returns and implementation of the Dayton Agreement. At home, these

are welcomed as well, but there will be demands for quick economic progress. The new Croatian leadership will be challenged to move quickly enough to meet all international and domestic expectations.

In return, the Croatian leadership and the country as a whole have expectations of the international

community. Indeed, progress in bringing Croatia into NATOs Partnership for Peace and the European

Unions group of pending members are positive signals that will encourage Croatia to undertake what

will be the difficult economic, political and policy reforms necessary to become a true member of a

democratic Europe.

Finally, with the HDZs seriously diminished power, Croatias future development will depend in

large measure on the strength of the SDP-HSLS coalition as well as between this coalition and that of the

four other parties in the government. With Prime Minister Racan and President Mesic representing

different coalitions, confrontations are possible, especially regarding efforts to curb presidential powers

and some aspects of foreign policy. The international community and, more importantly, Croatian citizens should be pleased with the common promises both coalitions and their leaders made during the

elections, and do what they can to keep them together in acting on those promises.
This is a U.S. Government publication produced by the

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

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This publication is intended to inform interested individuals and organizations

about developments within and among the participating States of the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

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The CSCE publishes transcripts of official hearings held before the Commission,

analyses of developments in the OSCE, and other periodic documents deemed relevant

to the region. All CSCE publications may be freely reproduced, with appropriate credit,

in any form. The CSCE encourages the widest possible dissemination of its publications.

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For a listing of all available CSCE documents, to be placed on or deleted

from the CSCE mailing list, or to request additional copies, please contact:

CSCE

234 Ford House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515-6460

Voice: (202)225-1901 FAX: (202) 226-4199

E-mail: CSCE @ MAIL.HOUSE.GOV

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Visit our site on the World Wide Web at

http://www.house.gov/csce/

for immediate access to our electronic documents, press releases, and other information about the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.