1997 Croatian presidential election
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Presidential elections were held in Croatia on 15 June 1997.[1] They were the second presidential elections held since independence in 1991. The result was a victory for incumbent president Franjo Tuđman, the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ), who received 61.40% of the vote and was re-elected to a second five-year term. As Tuđman received a majority of the valid votes cast on election day there was no need for a run-off. President Tuđman received a plurality of the votes in 20 of Croatia's 21 counties, while Vlado Gotovac did so in Istria County.
Voter turnout in the election was 54.62%, which was a large decline from the 74.9% turnout registered five years previous. Furthermore, about 459.000 fewer votes were cast in comparison to the previous election in 1992.[2] The elections also featured the smallest number of presidential candidates to date, with only three taking part: Franjo Tuđman, Zdravko Tomac and Vlado Gotovac. The margin of victory (over 40%) is also the largest in any election to date.
OSCE delegation observing the elections concluded that "the process leading up to the election was fundamentally flawed, and did not meet the minimum standards for a meaningful and democratic election in line with OSCE standards."[3]
Background
On February 22, the incumbent president Tudman was re-nominated by his party
In April, two months earlier, local elections and elections for the upper chamber of the parliament were held. Local elections showed weakening of HDZ position in urban centers.[4] The aftermath of Zagreb crisis and the protests against silencing Radio 101, an independent and critical media outlet, additionally led to a drop of government approval. It was also widely rumoured that 75-year-old president Tudman is suffering from cancer and his health was a major topic of speculation.[5][6]
Political parties in opposition to the ruling HDZ pondered agreeing on a single candidate to challenge Tudman. Scholar Ivan Supek was mentioned, but nothing came out of it. SDP and HNS toyed with the idea to jointly support HSLS candidate, poet and philosopher, MP Vlado Gotovac, but SDP ended up supporting Tomac's bid.[6] The rift in the united opposition was evident during the local elections earlier in the year, when HSS and HSLS distanced themselves from SDP. According to journalist Vlado Vurusic, SDP's Tomac chose to run knowing he stood little chance in order to legitimize the elections and build further visibility for the opposition.[7] Analysts believed that opposition's goal was to at least secure a run-off, preventing an absolute majority in the first round.[6]
Before the start of the official campaign, president Tudman's 75th birthday on May 14 was lavishly celebrated in
There were further concerns regarding access to polls. According to the
Candidates
Candidate | Party affiliation | Political remarks | ||
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Franjo Tudman
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Croatian Democratic Union | Incumbent war in Croatia with a military victory in 1995, peace settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and peaceful re-integration of secessionist Serb-occupied Eastern Slavonia , including Vukovar.
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Vlado Gotovac | Croatian Social Liberal Party | A member of Eurointegration agenda.
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Zdravko Tomac | Social Democratic Party | A member of Sabor, candidate of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) and party vice-chairman. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia in war-time national unity government (1991-2). Tomac campaigned on social justice issues and income inequality topics, pledging to continue with his humble lifestyle if elected president.[11][12] He pointed out Olof Palme as his role model. |
Failed candidacies
- Dobroslav Paraga, chairman of HSP-1861, gathered just 8,462 signatures supporting his bid, thus failing to reach 10,000 hurdle.[13]
Campaign
Tudman officially launched his campaign on May 28, presenting his manifesto at a reception in Klovićevi Dvori Gallery in Zagreb. On May 30, Statehood Day, a military parade was organized along Jarun lake in Zagreb, prominently featuring Tudman as the commander-in-chief. At an estimated cost of 16 million DEM, parade's exact purpose was questioned by media.[14] HDZ campaign committee published an election manifesto in all daily newspapers including a list of 800 public personas and celebrities officially supporting Tudman's re-election bid. However, several of the listed were under-age, while a number of artists and celebrities listed afterwards issued a public rebuttal, stating that they were never consulted on the matter. The list included public broadcaster director as well.[15]
On June 8, president Tudjman visited
With unemployment running at 17%, Tomac and Gotovac campaigned against
Tudman believed not to be on par with the other two candidates, thus dismissing interviews and press statements as unnecessary and unworthy of his position. (he did give a pre-arranged interview, broadcast on public TV). As a consequence, his deputy head of staff, Vesna Škare-Ožbolt, answered many questions in his name without Tudman's knowledge.[dubious ] No debates were held.
Access to marketing and campaign funding was severely unequal; Tudman's ads on TV ran for more than 2,000 seconds during the last week of the campaign, while Gotovac and Tomac combined had a total of 101 seconds.[3] Gotovac and Tomac's posters and billboards were virtually absent from sight.[3] Furthermore, Tomac's campaign van was stoned near Zadar.[16]
Pula incident
External videos | |
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HRT's footage of assault on Gotovac in Pula, Twitter video |
On June 5, opposition candidate,
Opinion polls
Date | Pollster | Tuđman | Tomac | Gotovac | Undecided | Refused to reply |
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4/5 June | Metron[23] | 56,3 | 10,1 | 6,2 | 12,1 | 15,3 |
Results
Tomac and Gotovac fared better in cities, with Gotovac coming second in Split (32%-21%) and narrowly third in Rijeka.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
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Franjo Tuđman | Croatian Democratic Union | 1,337,990 | 61.41 | |
Zdravko Tomac | Social Democratic Party of Croatia | 458,172 | 21.03 | |
Vlado Gotovac | Croatian Social Liberal Party | 382,630 | 17.56 | |
Total | 2,178,792 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 2,178,792 | 98.21 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 39,656 | 1.79 | ||
Total votes | 2,218,448 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 4,061,479 | 54.62 | ||
Source: Nohlen & Stöver; State Election Committee[24] |
Out of 377,705 citizens living abroad eligible to vote, 88,728 (23.5%) eventually did so, predominantly in Bosnia and Herzegovina (48 thousand out of 140,742 eligible to vote) and Germany (23 thousand). In total, 81,107 (91.4%) voted for Tudman, 2,676 for Tomac, and 4,463 for Gotovac.[25]
Voter turnout was fairly low in Eastern Slavonia, then under UN administration and with an ethnic Serb majority.[26] UNTAES complained that Croatian authorities did not update voting records in time, which left some 10% of those who did turn out to cast a ballot without a vote.[27] Voter turnout was also low in some opposition-friendly regions; for instance, in Krapina-Zagorje county it stood around 40%.[28] Turnout was highest in Pozega-Slavonia County (51,38%), while Zadar county reported lowest figures - just 34,5%.[29]
Maps
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Results in all of Croatia's counties: the candidate with the majority of votes in each administrative division. Franjo Tuđman Zdravko Tomac Vlado Gotovac
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Results of the election based on the majority of votes in each municipality of Croatia
Aftermath
External videos | |
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Croatia: Zagreb: President Tudjman is heading towards victory, AP Archives (YouTube video) | |
Tudman's inauguration, AP Archives (YouTube video) |
HDZ fell short of its proclaimed 70% vote target,[5] but still celebrated with fireworks and an open-air party in Zagreb. Government-friendlyVjesnik commented that the electorate had rejected political experiments, opting for continuity.[31] Tuđman took the oath of office for a second term on 5 August 1997 at Saint Mark's Square. He chose the inauguration date to coincide with the anniversary of the military operation "Storm" that ended the war in Croatia two years earlier.[32] Croatian jurist and constitutional expert, Branko Smerdel, in 2000 opined that the 1997 elections saw a transition from Tudman's "imperial war-time presidency" to "an elective monarchy", as Tudman afterwards hoarded power in his various councils, advisory bodies and committees.[33] However, he served only a little more than two years of his new 5-year term, as he died on 10 December 1999, triggering early elections being called for January 2000. Vlatko Pavletić assumed the post of Acting President as the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament.
SDP's result as runners-up, prevailing over HSLS, was important in establishing them as a leading opposition party and a senior partner in building the coalition (August 1998) that eventually won the 2000 parliamentary elections and formed the first post-HDZ government. SDP showed further growth continuity in the polls and stabilized its vote share. In 1998, SDP chairman Ivica Račan was far ahead of president Tudman in popularity polls.[34]: 195 In 1998, HDZ could not form a majority in two counties (Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Dubrovnik-Neretva) and was forced to call the elections, which were won by the united opposition.[18]: 135
Gotovac was disappointed with his result and the "lack of a political centre in Croatia," warning against "bi-polarization" of Croatian politics. His 17% vote share as a candidate of several largest opposition parties in Sabor showed their loss of credibility as an alternative.
According to political scientist Trevor Waters, after the elections "support for Tudjman and the HDZ fell sharply amid widespread allegations of corruption, cronyism and nepotism, particularly with regard to the privatisation of state-owned assets." Fractional in-fighting amongst HDZ became apparent as the united opposition started rising in the opinion polls.
References
- ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p419
- ^ a b c d e f STATEMENT: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA , OSCE, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Observation Delegation to the 1997 Croatian Presidential Elections, June 15th, 1997
- ^ Jeffries, Ian. The Former Yugoslavia at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to the Economies in Transition. 1 edition, Routledge, 2002.
- ^ a b "CNN - Tudjman coasts to Croatian victory - June 16, 1997". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ a b c Marinkovic, Gojko. "1997/05/14 23:06 POSLIJE TUDjMANA TUDjMAN". www.aimpress.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ^ "IN MEMORIAM Zdravko Tomac najbolji je simbol tragike i turbulencija u hrvatskom društvu - Jutarnji List". www.jutarnji.hr. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ^ Juresko, Goranka. (29.05.1997.) "TUDMAN: NASTAVIT CU POLITIKU KOJOM JE STVORENA I OBRANJENA HRVATSKA DRZAVA", Vjesnik
- ^ "1997/06/01 20:36 IZBORI RADI IZBORA TUDjMANA". www.aimpress.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ^ Marija Pulic (29.05.1997) GOTOVAC: POBIJEDIM LI-RASPISAT CU PARLAMENTARNE IZBORE, Vjesnik
- ^ Sandra Bartolovic (06.06.1997) TOMAC: NUDIM KONCEPCIJU SICIJALDEMOKRATSKE DRZAVE KOJA POBJEDUJE U EUROPI, Vjesnik
- ^ Sandra Bartolovic (29.05.1997) TOMAC: SVJEDOCIT CU SOCIJALDEMOKRATSKI PROGRAM OSOBNIM PRIMJEROM, Vjesnik
- ^ a b Saric, M (27 May 1997). "BIRACIMA PONUDENE TRI OPCIJE". Vecernji list.
- ^ "JARUNSKI VOJNI MIMOHOD: Rasipnost u brzom naletu", TJEDNIK, no. 15, Zagreb, June 6, 1997.
- ^ Marinkovic, Gojko. "1997/06/01 01:05 TUDjMANOV POCASNI KRUG". www.aimpress.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ^ a b Culic, Marinko. "1997/06/10 21:30 KAMEN - REMEN - VLAK". www.aimpress.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ^ Lasic, Igor: Predizborni spektakli - Vlak u Vukovar, vlak iz Vukovara, TJEDNIK, no. 16, 13 June 1997.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-663-11796-4.
- ^ Lupiga. "Tako je govorio Franjo Tuđman". Lupiga (in Croatian). Retrieved 2020-01-14.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ "Prije točno 21 godinu hrvatski vojnik je divljački napao Vladu Gotovca". www.index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ "Ubijanje Vlade Gotovca: Hrvatski Sakal", TJEDNIK, no. 16, 13 June 1997.
- ^ M.Saric (10.06.1997): BIRACIMA PRESUDNO- POSTENJE, Vecernji list
- ^ "Izbor Predsjednika Republike Hrvatske" [Election of the Croatian President] (PDF) (in Croatian). Croatian State Election Committee. 24 June 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
- ^ "Rezultati Glasovanja u Inozemstvu za Izbor Predsjedinka Republike Iirvatske" (PDF). izbori.hr. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-12-13.
- ^ Levak, Nevenka (1997-06-17). "NEPOSTOVANJE HRVATSKE DRZAVNOSTI". GLAS SLAVONIJE. p. 14.
- ^ S.Canic: UNTAES O IZBORIMA, Vjesnik, 18.06.1997
- ^ Radja, Tihomil (3 July 1997). "Vlast i slast". VIJENAC. No. 91.
- ^ Sandra Bartolovic (16.06.1997.) TUDMANOVA UVJERLJIVA POBJEDA VEC U PRVOM KRUGU PREDSJEDNICKIH IZBORA, Vjesnik
- ^ STATEMENT OF SENATOR PAUL SIMON, SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR MONITORING OF THE CROATIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, JUNE 16, 1997
- ^ IVANKOVIC, NENAD (17.06.1997) "I POBJEDA I PORAZ UVJERLJIVI", Vjesnik
- ^ Banjeglav, Tamara. "Cultures of History Forum : A Storm of Memory in Post-War Croatia". www.cultures-of-history.uni-jena.de. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ Smerdel, Branko (2002-06-07). "Konstitucionalizam i promjena vlasti". Zbornik Pravnog Fakulteta u Zagrebu (in Croatian). 50 (1–2): 5–29.
- ^ ISBN 9780765603609.
- ^ Culic, Marinko. "1997/06/17 20:48 POSTIZBORNO PRESLAGIVANJE KOCKICA". www.aimpress.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ^ Marinkovic, Gojko. "1997/06/16 23:38 APSTINENTI IZABRALI TUDjMANA". www.aimpress.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
External links
- Siber, Ivan. "Psychological profile of presidential candidates". tjednik.
- Interview with Vlado Gotovac, Tjednik 15, Zagreb, 6 June 1997.
- "Podsjetili smo se na 16 prilično bizarnih predizbornih spotova hrvatskih stranaka i političara". Telegram.hr (in Croatian). 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- TV ads and news footage from elections
- Election results by cities and municipalities, State Electoral Commission