Legal system:
based on civil law system
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed)
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Stjepan (Stipe) MESIC (since 18 February
2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ivo SANADER (since 9 December
2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Jadranka KOSOR (since 23 December
2003) and Damir POLANCEC (since 15 February 2005)
cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and
approved by the parliamentary Assembly
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); election last held 16 January 2005
(next to be held January 2010); the leader of the majority party or
the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime
minister by the president and then approved by the Assembly
election results: Stjepan MESIC reelected president; percent of vote
- Stjepan MESIC 66%, Jadranka KOSOR (HDZ) 34% in the second round
Legislative branch:
unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added
in the November 2003 parliamentary elections; members elected from
party lists by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in 2007)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; number of seats by
party - HDZ 63, SDP 34, HNS 11, HSS 9, HSP 7, IDS 4, HDSSB 3, HSLS
3, HSU 3, SDSS 3, other 12
note: minority government coalition - HDZ, DC, HSLS, HSU, SDSS; note
- the Democratic Center party or DC withdrew from the government in
Febuary 2006
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts
appointed for eight-year terms by the Judicial Council of the
Republic, which is elected by the Assembly
Political parties and leaders:
Croatian Bloc or HB [Ivic PASALIC]; Croatian Christian Democratic
Union or HKDU [Anto KOVACEVIC]; Croatian Democratic Congress of
Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Branimir GLAVAS]; Croatian Democratic
Union or HDZ [Ivo SANADER]; Croatian Party of Rights or HSP [Anto
DJAPIC]; Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Josip FRISCIC]; Croatian
Pensioner Party or HSU [Vladimir JORDAN]; Croatian People's Party or
HNS [Vesna PUSIC] (in 2005 party merged with Libra to become
Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats or NS-LD [Vesna PUSIC]);
Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Djurdja ADLESIC]; Croatian
True Revival Party or HIP [Miroslav TUDJMAN]; Democratic Centre or
DC [Vesna SKARE-OZBOLT]; Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS
[Vojislav STANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan
JAKOVCIC]; Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
ACCT (observer), BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO,
IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA,
MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF
(observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP,
UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOGIP, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCO,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Neven JURICA
chancery: 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-5899
FAX: [1] (202) 588-8936
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert A. BRADTKE
embassy: 2 Thomas Jefferson Street, 10010 Zagreb
mailing address: use street address
telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200
FAX: [385] (1) 661-2373