Croatian Demochristian Party

For the political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina, see Croatian Christian Democrats (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Croatian Demochristian Party Hrvatska demokršćanska stranka
Leader	Goran Dodig
International Secretary	Hrvoje Zekanović [hr][1]
Founded	21 February 2009
Headquarters	Zagreb, Croatia
Membership (2022)	1,089[2]
Ideology	Christian democracy[3] Conservatism[3]
Political position	Centre-right to right-wing
European affiliation	European People's Party[1]
Colours	Blue
Sabor	1 / 151
Website
www.demokrscanihds.hr
Politics of Croatia Political parties Elections

The Croatian Demochristian Party (Croatian: Hrvatska demokršćanska stranka or HDS) is a Christian democratic political party in Croatia.

It was formed in 2009 from a merger of three minor Christian Democratic parties:

• Croatian Demochristians (Croatian: Hrvatski demokršćani, HD)
• Croatian Christian Democratic Party (Croatian: Hrvatska kršćanska demokratska stranka, HKDS)
• Party of Croatian Renaissance (Croatian: Stranka hrvatskog proljeća, SHP)

Presidents of these three parties — Ante Ledić, Petar Kaćunko and Goran Dodig — signed a treaty that allowed for the Croatian Christian Democratic Party to be founded on 21 February 2009 in Zagreb.^[4][5]

The founders of the party said that their goal is to change the ideals of Croatia so that Croats will not care solely about the material realm, but also about spiritual and moral values. Also, Kaćunko said that the party will care for the general good, not for the interests of one man.

The president of the party is Goran Dodig, and there are two vice-presidents are Ante Ledić and Petar Kaćunko.

Since November 2023, HDS is a member party of the European People's Party.^[6]

History

Croatian Christian Democratic Party

The Croatian Christian Democratic Party was created in 1990 and modelled after the Christian Democrat parties of Western Europe, although, due to specific circumstances of early 1990s Croatia, it had more right-wing than centre-right rhetoric.

In the 1990 Croatian parliamentary election, it joined the bloc of moderate nationalists called Coalition of People's Accord. Like all parties of that bloc, it fared badly; however, one year later, it had 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 the presidential race. This fiasco led HKDS to unite with Croatian Democratic Party (HDS) into Croatian Christian Democratic Union. The dissident faction of HKDS continued to operate under the party's old name.

Party of Croatian Renaissance

Party of Croatian Renaissance was a regional political party in Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia that splintered from the Croatian Social Liberal Party and was named after the Croatian Spring.

Croatian Christian Democrats

Croatian Christian Democrats was a minor right-wing conservative political party that was founded in 2002.

Election results

Legislative

Election	Coalition with	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
		Coalition		HDS
2011	JH-ABH	13,412	0.57%	0 / 151	New	Extra-parliamentary
2015	Patriotic Coalition	746,626	33.36%	0 / 151	0	Extra-parliamentary
2016	HDZ-HSLS-HRAST	682,687	36.27%	1 / 151	1	Government support
2020	NS-R-HSS BR-NSH (2nd el. district), HDZ-HSLS–HDSSB (10th el. district)	16,900 (NS-R coal.), 621,035 (HDZ coal.)	1.01% (NS-R coal.), 37.26% (HDZ coal.)	1 / 151	0	Government support
2024	HDZ–HSLS–HNS–HSU	729,949	34.44	1 / 151	0	TBA

European Parliament

Election	In coalition with	Votes won (coalition totals)	Percentage	Seats won (HDS only)	Change
2014	HDZ-HSS-HSP AS-BUZ-ZDS	381,844	41.42%	0 / 11
2019	None	3,651	0.33%	0 / 12

References

1. "Parties & Partners". epp.eu. European People's Party. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
2. "Izvješće o obavljenoj financijskoj reviziji - Hrvatska demokršćanska stranka za 2022" (PDF). State Audit Office (in Croatian). 6 June 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
3. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2020). "Croatia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
4. "Osnovana Hrvatska demokršćanska stranka". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). 28 January 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
5. "Ujediniteljski Sabor Hrvatske Demokršćanske Stranke" (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
6. "Zekanović u transu, HDZ ga je ugurao u EPP. Plenkovićev žetončić odsad će ručicu dizati na europskoj sceni". telegram.hr (in Croatian). Telegram. 14 Nov 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2024.

External links

• Profile at HIDRA.hr (in Croatian)