List of political parties in Croatia explained

This article lists current political parties in Croatia, as well as former parties dating back as far as 1841. Since 1989, Croatia has a multi-party system with numerous parties that must collaborate to form coalition governments.

There are a total of 160 active political parties in Croatia as of November 3, 2024. Since January 1990 (when first political parties were officially legalized in Croatia)^[1] a total of 409 of them have been registered to date, out of which 249 have since been struck from the register.^[2]

The legal position, conditions, method and procedure for the establishment, registration and termination of political parties are determined by the Political Parties Act.^[3] ^[4]

Modern parties

Political parties with elected representation at the national level

	Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	Political position	European
Croatian Democratic Union Hrvatska demokratska zajednica	HDZ	Andrej Plenković	Conservatism Christian democracy	Centre-right	EPP
Social Democratic Party of Croatia Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske	SDP	Siniša Hajdaš Dončić	Social democracy Progressivism	Centre-left	PES
We Can! – Political Platform Možemo! – politička platforma	Možemo!	Sandra Benčić Tomislav Tomašević	Green politics Eco-socialism Progressivism	Left-wing	EGP
Homeland Movement Domovinski pokret	DP	Ivan Penava			–
The Bridge Most	Most	Božo Petrov	Fiscal conservatism Social conservatism Economic liberalism		–
Independent Democratic Serb Party Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka Самостална демократска српска странка	SDSS СДСС	Milorad Pupovac	Serb minority politics Social democracy Anti-fascism	Centre-left	–
Centre Centar	Centar	Ivica Puljak	Social liberalism Economic liberalism	Centre	ALDE Party
Istrian Democratic Assembly Istarski demokratski sabor Dieta democratica istriana	IDS DDI	Dalibor Paus	Istrian regionalism Liberalism Social liberalism	Centre to centre-left	ALDE Party
Croatian Social Liberal Party Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka	HSLS	Dario Hrebak	Conservative liberalism Classical liberalism	Centre to centre-right	ALDE Party
Independent Platform of the North Nezavisna platforma Sjever	NPS	Matija Posavec	Regionalism	Centre	–
Croatian Sovereignists Hrvatski suverenisti	HS	Marijan Pavliček	Sovereigntism Croatian nationalism Conservatism Christian right	Right-wing	ECR Party
Croatian Peasant Party Hrvatska seljačka stranka	HSS	Krešo Beljak	Agrarianism Social liberalism Liberalism Green politics Republicanism	Centre to centre-left	–
Croatian Demochristian Party Hrvatska demokršćanska stranka	HDS	Goran Dodig	Christian democracy Conservatism	Centre-right to right-wing	EPP
Dalija Orešković and People with a First and Last Name Dalija Orešković i ljudi s imenom i prezimenom	DO i SIP	Dalija Orešković	Anti-corruption Reformism	Centre to centre-left	–
Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats Hrvatska narodna stranka – Liberalni demokrati	HNS-LD	Krunoslav Lukačić	Social liberalism	Centre to centre-left	ALDE Party
Civic Liberal Alliance Građansko-liberalni savez	GLAS	Anka Mrak-Taritaš	Liberalism Social liberalism	Centre-left	ALDE Party
Croatian Party of Pensioners Hrvatska stranka umirovljenika	HSU	Veselko Gabričević	Pensioners' interests, Single-issue politics	Centre to centre-left	–
Law and Justice Pravo i pravda	PiP	Mislav Kolakušić	Sovereigntism Populism Protectionism	Right-wing	–

Political parties with previously elected representation at a national level

Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar (Primorsko-goranski savez or PGS) – won 1 seat in 1992 (then called Rijeka Democratic Union or RiDS) – won 1 seat in 1995; 2 seats in 2000; 1 seat in 2003
Bloc for Croatia (Blok za Hrvatsku or BLOK) – won 1 seat in 2020
† Croatian Christian Democratic Union (Hrvatska kršćanska demokratska unija or HKDU) – won 1 seat in 1995, 1 seat in 2000
Croatian Civic Party (Hrvatska građanska stranka or HGS) – won 2 seats in 2011
Croatian Democratic Peasant Party (Hrvatska demokratska seljačka stranka or HDSS) – won 1 seat in 2003
† Croatian Growth (Hrvatski rast or Hrast) – active from 2012 to 2021
† Croatian Independent Democrats (Hrvatski nezavisni demokrati or HND) – active from 1994 to 2011; won 1 seat in 1995
Croatian Labourists – Labour Party (Hrvatski laburisti - Stranka rada or Laburisti) – won 6 seats in 2011; 3 seats in 2015
Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) – won 5 seats in 1992; 4 seats in 1995 and 2000; 8 seats in 2003; 1 seat in 2007
† Croatian Party of Rights — Dr. Ante Starčević (Hrvatska stranka prava dr. Ante Starčević or HSP AS) – won 1 seat in 2011; 3 seats in 2015
† Dalmatian Action (Dalmatinska akcija or DA) – active from 1990 to 2003; won 1 seat in 1992
† Democratic Centre (Demokratski centar or DC) – active from 2000 to 2016; won 1 seat in 2003
Democrats (Demokrati) – held 1 seat between 2018 and 2020
Focus (Fokus) – won 1 seat in 2020 and 2024
† Liberal Party (Liberalna stranka or LS) – active from 1998 to 2006; won 2 seats in 2000 and 2003
New Left (Nova ljevica or NL) – won 1 seat in 2020 (merging into Možemo!)
† Party of Croatian Intergenerational Solidarity (Stranka međugeneracijske solidarnosti Hrvatske or SMSH) – active from 2016 to 2017; had 1 seat in 2016 (merged into Bandić Milan 365 - Labour and Solidarity Party in November 2017)
† Party of Liberal Democrats (Stranka liberalnih demokrata or LIBRA) – active from 2002 to 2005; won 3 seats in 2003
Party with a First and Last Name (Stranka s Imenom i Prezimenom or IP) – active from 2018 to 2020; active from 2023; won 1 seat in 2020
People's Party – Reformists (Narodna stranka – Reformisti or NS-R) – won 1 seat in 2015, 2016 and 2020
† Serb People's Party (Srpska narodna stranka/Српска народна странка or SNS/CHC) – won 3 seats in 1992; 2 seats in 1995; 1 seat in 2000
† Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party (Slavonsko-baranjska hrvatska stranka or S-BHS) – active from 1992 to 2008, won 1 seat in 1995; 1 seat in 2000
† Social Democratic Action of Croatia (Akcija socijaldemokrata Hrvatske or ASH) – active between 1994 and 2016; won 1 seat in 1995
Social Democrats (Socijaldemokrati) – held 11 seats between 2022 and 2024
† The Key of Croatia (Ključ Hrvatske) – active between 2011 and 2024; won 1 seat in 2015; 8 seats in 2016 (merged into Law and Justice in 2024)
Workers' Front (Radnička fronta or RF) – won 1 seat in 2020

Other parties

Autochthonous Croatian Party of Rights (Autohtona-Hrvatska stranka prava or A-HSP)
Bloc Pensioners Together (Blok umirovljenici zajedno or BUZ)
Charter for Rijeka or List for Rijeka (Lista za Rijeku/Lista per Fiume; RI or LZR)
† Croatian Bloc (Hrvatski blok or HB) – active 2002–2009
† Croatian Conservative Party (Hrvatska konzervativna stranka or HKS) – active 2014–2021
Croatian Party of Rights 1861 (Hrvatska stranka prava 1861 or HSP 1861)
Croatian Pure Party of Rights (Hrvatska čista stranka prava or HČSP)
† Croatian Republican Union (Hrvatska republikanska zajednica or HRZ)
† Croatian Workers Party (Hrvatska radnička stranka or HRS)
Democratic Alliance of Serbs (Demokratski savez Srba/Демократски caвeз Cpбa or DSS/ДСC)
Democratic Party of Zagorje (Zagorska demokratska stranka or ZDS)
For the City (Za grad or ZG)
Green Alliance – Greens (Zeleni savez – Zeleni)
† Istrian Social Democratic Forum (Istarski socijaldemokratski forum or ISDF)
† Left of Croatia (Ljevica Hrvatske)
Međimurje Party (Međimurska stranka)
† Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia (Jedino Hrvatska – Pokret za Hrvatsku)
† Party of Danube Serbs (Partija podunavskih Srba/Партија подунавских Срба or PPS/ППС)
Party of Ivan Pernar (Stranka Ivana Pernara or SIP)
† Pirate Party (Piratska stranka)
Republic (Republika)
† Serb Democratic Party (Srpska demokratska stranka/Српска демократска cтранка or SDS/СДС)
Socialist Labour Party of Croatia (Socijalistička radnička partija Hrvatske or SRP)
Green Alternative – Sustainable Development of Croatia (Zelena Alternativa – Održivi razvoj Hrvatske or ORaH)
† The Split Party (Splitska stranka)
† Women's Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka žena or DSŽ)
Youth Action (Akcija mladih or AM)
Zagorje Party (Zagorska stranka or ZS)

Historical parties

Illyrian Party/People's Party (Ilirska stranka/Narodna stranka, 1841–1861)
People's Liberal Party/Independent People's Party (Narodno-liberalna stranka/Neodvisna narodna stranka, 1861–1903)
Croatian-Hungarian Party (Hrvatsko-ugarska stranka, 1841–1861)
Unionist Party/People's Constitutional Party (Unionistička stranka/Narodno-ustavna stranka, 1861–1873)
Party of Rights/Croatian Party of Rights (Stranka prava/Hrvatska stranka prava, 1861–1910)
Pure Party of Rights/Croatian Pure Party of Rights (Čista stranka prava/Hrvatska čista stranka prava, 1895–1918)
Starčević's Party of Rights (Starčevićeva stranka prava, 1908–1911–1918)
(Napredna stranka/Hrvatska pučka napredna stranka, 1904–1910)
Progressive Democratic Party (Napredna demokratska stranka, 1918–1919)
Serb Independent Party/Serb People's Independent Party (Srpska samostalna stranka/Srpska narodna samostalna stranka, 1881–1918)
Serb People's Radical Party (Srpska narodna radikalna stranka, 1903–1918)
(Hrvatska samostalna stranka, 1910–1918)
Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia (Socijaldemokratska stranka Hrvatske i Slavonije, 1894–1918)
Croat-Serb Coalition (Hrvatsko-srpska koalicija, 1905–1918)
Autonomist Party (Dalmatia) (Autonomna stranka, 1860–1918)
People's Party/People's Croatian Party or Croatian National Party (Dalmatia) (Narodna stranka/Narodna hrvatska stranka, 1861–1905)
Serbian Party or Serb People's Party (Dalmatia) (Srpska stranka/Srpska narodna stranka, 1879–1918)
Croatian Party (Dalmatia) (Hrvatska stranka, 1905–1918)
Democratic Party (Dalmatia) (Demokratska stranka, 1904–1906)
(Istria) (Hrvatsko-slovenska narodna stranka, 1878–1918)
Croatian Popular Party (Hrvatska pučka stranka, 1919–1929)
Croatian Union (Hrvatska zajednica, 1919–1926)
Communist Party of Croatia/League of Communists of Croatia (Komunistička partija Hrvatske/Savez komunista Hrvatske, 1937–1990)

▶ Note: The Croatian adjective "narodni/a/o" could be translated as "people's" and/or "national", similar adjective "pučki/a/o" signifies "popular" or "people's" (but not "national").

Notes and References

Radovi Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru. Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. 1330-0474. hr. Začetci višestranačja u Hrvatskoj 1989. godine. The Origins of the Multi-Party System in Croatia in 1989. Šime Dunatov. 52. December 2010. 381–397. 15 November 2011.
Web site: Register of political parties in the Republic of Croatia . gov.hr . . 3 November 2024.
Web site: Political Parties Act . sabor.hr . . 3 November 2024.
Web site: 9 January 2022 . Popis političkih stranaka u Hrvatskoj . List of political parties in Croatia . 30 May 2022 . RTL.hr . hr.