Dobroslav Paraga | |
|---|---|
 Paraga during the 1990s | |
| President of the Croatian Party of Rights 1861 | |
| Assumed office 11 September 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 20 May 1990 – 7 November 1995 | |
| 1st President of the Croatian Party of Rights | |
| In office 25 February 1991 – 11 September 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Anto Đapić |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1960-12-09)9 December 1960 (age 65) |
| Party | Croatian Party of Rights 1861 |
| Other political affiliations | Croatian Party of Rights(1991–1993) |
| Parent(s) | Smiljan and Arna Paraga |
Dobroslav Paraga (born 9 December 1960) is aCroatian far-right politician. He was the first president of the far-rightCroatian Party of Rights, after the party was reestablished in 1991. In 1993 he founded theCroatian Party of Rights 1861 following a political split fromAnto Đapić.
Paraga was born in 1960 in Zagreb. As a law student in 1980, he was arrested and spent time in prison for collecting signatures demanding the release of political prisoners.[1]
Paraga founded theCroatian Party of Rights on 25 February 1990 withAnte Paradžik, viewing it as a continuation of theParty of Rights founded byAnte Starčević that operated in Austria-Hungary during the late nineteenth century.[2] It has been described asneo-fascist.[3][4]
His party formed its own militia, theCroatian Defence Forces (Croatian:Hrvatske obrambene snage;HOS) that was active in theCroatian War of Independence and in theBosnian War. In an interview in 2000, Paraga stated his party was “for a Croatia to the Drina, and for aBosnia and Herzegovina to the Adriatic”.[7] This would also include parts ofSerbia andMontenegro. For Paraga, the only possible Greater Croatia was one that was ethnically homogenous.[4]
Paraga and the HSP had had hopes of becoming the major political factor before the 1992 presidential and parliamentary elections, but those hopes did not materialise. The HSP entered theCroatian Parliament, winning five seats but Paraga came fourth among presidential candidates, winning 5.4% of the vote.[8] Another blow came in the form of high treason charges against Paraga and his associateAnto Đapić, who were stripped of their parliamentary immunity. Those charges were ultimately dropped, but the most serious blow for Paraga came when Đapić turned against him and took over the leadership of the HSP at the 1993 party convention inKutina. Paraga accused Đapić of being in cahoots with Tuđman and tried to retrieve party leadership in court.[9][10]
Following the failure of the effort and second split with fellow party members, in 1995 Paraga founded a party calledCroatian Party of Rights 1861, claiming to be the true descendant of the 19th century party inAustria-Hungary.[9][10]
The re-traditionalisation revolution also fed into the fascist Party of Rights (HSP) programme in the 1990s.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
