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Croatian Party of Rights

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For other uses, see Croatian Party of Rights (disambiguation).
Croatian Party of Rights
Hrvatska stranka prava
AbbreviationHSP
PresidentNikica Augustinović[1]
Secretary-GeneralMarina Logarušić
Vice PresidentsZdenko Koren
Ivica Žuljević
Josip Miskovic
Željko Belanek
FounderDobroslav Paraga
Ante Paradžik
Founded25 February 1990 (1990-02-25)
Preceded byParty of Rights
HeadquartersZagreb
NewspaperCroatian law (until 1993)
Youth wingYouth Club of the Croatian Party of Rights
Military wingCroatian Defence Forces
(1991–1993)
Membership (2011)41,400
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[5][6]
National affiliationCoalition "Move"[7] (2016)
Colours  Black
SloganBog i Hrvati
(God and Croats)
Sabor
0 / 151
European Parliament
0 / 12
County Prefects
0 / 21
Mayors
2 / 128
Election symbol
Party flag
RFP flag
Website
http://hsp.hr/

The Croatian Party of Rights (Croatian: Hrvatska stranka prava, abbr. HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist[5][8] and neo-fascist[2][3] political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" in the party's name refers to the legal and moral reasons for the autonomy, independence, and sovereignty of Croatia.[9] While the HSP has retained its old name,[clarification needed] today it is a far-right party with an ethnocentric platform.

History

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The HSP, along with other modern Croatian parties, such as the Croatian Pure Party of Rights, claim legacy to the Party of Rights, which was founded in 1861 and existed until 1929.[citation needed]

1991–1995

[edit]

A group of people restored Croatian Party of Rights on 25 February 1990.[10] Dobroslav Paraga, the first president of the party acknowledged the historical bounds with the older Party of Rights. Soon, the party faced splits.[10] Krešimir Pavelić, a former secretary of the party, became president of the new Croatian Democratic Party of Rights.[10] Some other rights parties that claimed origin from old Party of Rights appeared.[10] Croatian Party of Rights did not participate in the Croatian parliamentary election in 1990,[11] which helped Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) to win more votes.[11]

The parties membership grew at a rapid rate, with the party having 18,000 members by the end of 1990, and grew to over 100,000 members by the end of fall in 1991, with thousands of supporters attending the parties rallies and protests.[12] Muslims often joined the HSP, falsifying their nationality to be Croatian while stating they were their fathers and grandfathers.[13]

HSP's political appeal and strength were at peak during the 1991–92 when Croatian Defence Forces, a military wing of the HSP, took heavy burden of defence of Croatia.[11] Paraga was the champion of the Croatian will for freedom and independence.[14] Paraga harshly and openly criticized Franjo Tuđman for his cooperation with Serbia and the conflict with Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[14] The HSP used the writings of Ante Starčević and the writings of Ustaše ideologues such as Mile Budak to argue that Tuđman was not radical enough in his defence of the Croatian state.[15]

The ruling HDZ cooperated with the HSP until the fall of Vukovar, after which the leaders of the HSP and HOS were imprisoned for "terrorist activities" and "obstruction of democratically elected government". Paraga and the Croatian Party of Rights appeared in front of a military tribunal on allegations of insubordination.[10] They were later released. Paraga's main political and electoral platform was the creation of a Greater Croatia and the total defeat of the Serbian aggressor.[11] In the Croatian parliamentary election held in 1992, HDZ lost 7% of votes in favor of the Party of Rights.[11]

One of the party's first post-communist leaders, Ante Paradžik was a political dissident during the former Yugoslavia when he was a student leader of the Croatian Spring, but he was killed during the war by assassination. Paraga found himself in a power struggle with his deputy, Anto Đapić. Paraga and Đapić fought a legal battle for the right to use the party name, a dispute that Paraga eventually lost. Paraga later formed the Croatian Party of Rights 1861 (HSP 1861) but by this time he was already politically marginalized.[citation needed]

On 17 September 1993, the leaders of the three rights parties held a meeting in Kutina and began preparations for a new union on a broad common rights program.[10] The initiative for the meeting came from the new leaders of the HSP, Đapić and Boris Kandare,[10] who invited leaders of the Croatian Pure Party of Rights and the Croatian National Democratic League but the meeting was unsuccessful, and those parties are still acting separately.[10] During the parliamentary election in 1995, HSP lost popularity due to bad situation in the party in favor of HDZ.[11]

1995–present

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Politics of Croatia
Coat of arms
Constitution
Executive
Legislative
Judiciary
Political parties in Sabor
Elections and referendums
Recent elections

Recent referendums

Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
The old logo of the HSP, being much wider and shorter

The long-time president of modern HSP was Đapić. His political reputation was severely tarnished after the media found out that he cheated to obtain his first post-graduate degree in law at the University of Split, in collusion with Kandare, a senior member of his party and professor at the Law Faculty.

In 2000, Paraga again initiated a dispute about the Kutina Assembly before the Supreme Court, which accepted his lawsuit in May 2000, canceling the conclusion of the Ministry of Public Administration from 1998. He continued to claim that Đapić was not a member of the party and that he falsified his membership. However, on 20 July 2002, the Supreme Court sided with Đapić. The Ministry of Justice and Public Administration issued a decision according to which the leadership of the HSP did not violate the procedure and the law in any detail at the Kutin Assembly.

He was also publicly accused of faking injuries to obtain the status of a war veteran. Despite these revelations, Đapić's career as head of the HSP was unaffected. Even after the party was left by many and it had terrible results, losing seven out of eight seats from 2003, and during the Croatian elections in 2007, he remained as head of the party. He temporarily resigned, but in less than few weeks he had withdrawn his resignation.[citation needed]

At the 2003 Croatian parliamentary election, the HSP was in an alliance with Međimurje Party, Zagorje Democratic Party and non-partisan Slaven Letica. Together, they won 6.4% of the popular vote and 8 out of 151 seats, all for the HSP and Letica. In August 2005, the Croatian Democratic Republican Party, a right-wing political party established on 21 October 2000, by merger of three smaller right-wing parties,[16] merged into the HSP.

The first president of HDRS was Joško Kovač. In September 2007, prominent members Miroslav Rožić and Tonči Tadić left the party. In November at the 2007 Croatian parliamentary election, the party suffered a setback, as it won 3.5% of the popular vote and a single seat in Sabor. After the 2009 Croatian local elections, which weren't particularly successful for the party either, turmoil in the party leadership escalated when a faction led by former representatives Ruža Tomašić and Pero Kovačević formed a splinter "Croatian Party of Rights — Dr. Ante Starčević".[17]

At the party convention held on 7 November 2009, Đapić officially stepped down, allowing a new leader to be elected by party members. Daniel Srb defeated two other candidates to become the new president of the party. The HSP announced that during the Croatian parliamentary election in 2011 holders of their list in VII Electoral District (primary Lika and Gorski Kotar) would be exclusively women.[18]

The party, for the first time, didn't win any parliamentary seats in the 2011 Croatian parliamentary election, which led to a crisis in Party of Rights; leaders of the Dalmatian branch of the party called for resignation of honorary president Anto Đapić.[19] The president of the HSP in Split, Hrvoje Tomašević, asked for Đapić's resignation from politics and election in the party.[19] He was supported by the president of the HSP in Dubrovnik, Denis Šešelj.[19] This appeal resulted in Đapić's resignation from party politics.[20]

On 28 January 2013, the Presidency of the Croatian Party of Rights expelled its former honorary president Đapić from the party.[21] Srb, the party's president, said that Đapić expelled as he broke his promise that he wouldn't be active in politics. Đapić said that he was shocked by the decision.[22]

On 16 July 2020, the county council of HSP Split reached a unanimous conclusion on demanding the resignation of the parties presidency and the president, Karlo Starčević, which he strongly opposed at the presidency session. HSP Split officials gave a statement, in which they resigned and left the party.[23]

Election results

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Legislative

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The following is a summary of the party's results in legislative elections for the Croatian Parliament. The "Total votes" and "Percentage" columns include sums of votes won by pre-election coalitions HSP had been part of and the "Total seats" column includes sums of seats won by HSP in election constituencies plus representatives of ethnic minorities affiliated with HSP.

Election In coalition with Votes won Percentage Seats won Change Government
(Coalition totals) (HSP only)
1992 None 186,000 7.1%
5 / 138
 New Opposition
1995 None 121,095 5.0%
4 / 127
 Decrease 1 Opposition
2000 HKDU 152,699 5.2%
4 / 151
 Steady 0 Opposition
2003 ZDS–MS 157,987 6.4%
8 / 151
 Increase 4 Opposition
2007 None 86,865 3.5%
1 / 153
 Decrease 7 Opposition
2011 HS 72,360 3.0%
0 / 151
 Decrease 1 Extra-parliamentary
2015 HKS–OS [hr] 13,980 0.6%
0 / 151
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2016 HČSP–ABH–OS [hr] 13,082 0.7%
0 / 151
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2020 NHR–GO 7,266 0.44%
0 / 151
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2024 HDSS–HB 18,128 0.85%
0 / 151
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary

Presidential

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The following is a list of presidential candidates endorsed by HSP in elections for President of Croatia.

Election year(s) Candidate 1st round
# of overall votes % of overall votes
1992 Dobroslav Paraga 144,695 5.51 (#4)
2000 Anto Đapić 49,288 1.84 (#5)
2005 Slaven Letica 57,748 2.59 (#5)
2009–10 Dragan Primorac 117,154 5.93 (#6)
2014–15 Milan Kujundžić 112,585 6.30 (#4)
2024 Tomislav Jonjić TBD TBD

European Parliament

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Election List leader Coalition Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
Coalition HSP
2013 Daniel Srb None 10,317 1.39 (#9)
0 / 12
 New –
2014 Milan Kujundžić Alliance for Croatia 63,437 6.88 (#4)
0 / 11
 Steady 0
2019 Dražen Keleminec NHR 46,970 4.37 (#7)
0 / 12
 Steady 0
2024 Božo Petrov Most–HS 30,155 4.01 (#6)
0 / 12
 Steady 0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Održan veličanstveni Sabor HSP-a, za predsjednika izabran KARLO STARČEVIĆ. | HSP". 2017-02-26. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  2. ^ a b Carmichael, Cathie (2002). Ethnic Cleansing in the Balkans, Nationalism and the Destruction of Tradition. ISBN 9780415274166.
  3. ^ a b Bellamy, Alex (2003). The formation of Croatian national identity: A centuries-old dream?. doi:10.7228/manchester/9780719065026.001.0001. ISBN 9780719065026.
  4. ^ Davies, Peter; Lynch, Derek (2002). The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-13460-952-9.
  5. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2011). "Croatia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013.
  6. ^ Davies, Peter; Lynch, Derek (2005-08-16). The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-60952-9.
  7. ^ "Osniva se POMAK – još jedna pravaška koalicija. Saznajte tko ju čini!". 20 July 2016.
  8. ^ Janusz Bugajski (1995). Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 461–. ISBN 978-0-7656-1911-2.
  9. ^ Stallaerts 2010, p. 72.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Stallaerts 2010, p. 73.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Ramet 1999, p. 177.
  12. ^ Irvine 1996, p. 7–8
  13. ^ Jonjić 2013, p. 551
  14. ^ a b Ramet 1999, p. 178.
  15. ^ Bellamy, Alex J. (2003). The Formation of Croatian National Identity: A Centuries-old Dream. Manchester University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0-7190-6502-X. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  16. ^ "Stranački život" (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. 27 January 2001. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  17. ^ "Ugašen HSP Ante Starčevića!". Zadarski list (in Croatian). 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  18. ^ Romić, Tea (11 November 2011). "Pravašice: U nas nema muškaraca, našu listu nosi 14 pametnih žena". Večernji list. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  19. ^ a b c Jurković, Edi (10 December 2011). "I Šešelj protiv Srba na čelu HSP-a". Večernji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  20. ^ "Anto Đapić povlači se iz političkog života svoje stranke". Večernji list (in Croatian). 12 December 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  21. ^ "Anto Đapić u politici je od 1989., izbacili su ga iz HDZ-a, pa HSP-a, pa opet iz HSP-a..." Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  22. ^ "Anto Đapić izbačen iz HSP-a: 'Zaprepašten sam, moram skupiti dojmove'" (in Croatian). Dnevnik Nove TV. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  23. ^ "Dužnosnici HSP-a Split napustili stranku: Pod vodstvom Karla Starčevića i njegovih suradnika doživjeli smo potpuni izborni debakl". LIKA ONLINE - Najposjećeniji lički portal (in Croatian). 2020-07-20. Retrieved 2024-04-03.

Bibliography

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