1990 Croatian parliamentary election

1990 Croatian parliamentary election

22–23 April 1990 (first round) 6–7 May 1990 (second round) 1992 →

All 80 seats in the Social-Political Council All 116 seats in the Council of Municipalities All 160 seats in the Council of Associated Labour

Party Leader Seats HDZ Franjo Tuđman 205 SKH–SDP Ivica Račan 73 SKH–SDP / SS–SSH – 17 KNS Savka Dabčević-Kučar 11 HDS Marko Veselica 10 SDS Jovan Rašković 5 SS–SSH 4 SKH / SS / SSOH – 3 HDZ / HSS – 2 SKH / SS / SSOH / SUBNOR – 2 SSOH 1 AIE 1 HDZ / HSLS – 2 SKH–SDP / GAS – 1 HSS Josip Torbar 1 Independents 13 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results of the election in each of the electoral districts of Croatia for the Socio-Political Council   HDZ   SKH-SDP   KNS   SSH   SDS   ZA   Independent Prime Minister before Subsequent Prime Minister Antun Milović SKH Stjepan Mesić HDZ

Parliamentary elections were held in the Socialist Republic of Croatia between 22 and 23 April 1990; the second round of voting occurred on 6–7 May. These were the first free, multi-party elections held in Croatia since 1938, and the first such elections for the Croatian Parliament since 1913. Voters elected candidates for 356 seats in the tri-cameral parliament; the turnout in the first round ranged between 76.56% and 84.54% for various parliamentary chambers. In the second round, the turnout was 74.82%. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 205 seats, ousted the League of Communists of Croatia – Party of Democratic Reform (SKH-SDP) from power and ended 45 years of communist rule in Croatia. The new parliament convened for the first time on 30 May, elected Franjo Tuđman as President of the Croatian Presidency and soon after renamed the office to President of Croatia.

The election took place during a political crisis within the Yugoslav federation, the disintegration of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and growing ethnic tensions between Croats and Serbs. Though the SKH-SDP was widely expected to win the elections, the HDZ took advantage of questions of nationality and political reform becoming the dominant issues of concern, and won by a wide margin. After the election, SKH-SDP lost a large proportion of its membership, many of whom crossed the party lines and joined the HDZ. The electoral campaign exacerbated ethnic rivalries, and mutually provocative actions led to deep mistrust. Fear was further fomented by authorities in the neighbouring Socialist Republic of Serbia. In the months following the elections, the Croatian parliament amended the Constitution of Croatia to remove the term "Socialist" from the republic's official name, and to remove communist symbols from the flag and coat of arms of Croatia.