Croatian Party of Rights Hrvatska stranka prava | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | HSP |
| President | Marina Logarušić[1] |
| Deputy President | Stefan Novak |
| Founder | Dobroslav Paraga Ante Paradžik |
| Founded | 25 February 1990 (1990-02-25) |
| Preceded by | Party of Rights |
| Headquarters | Zagreb |
| Newspaper | Croatian law (until 1993) |
| Youth wing | Youth Club of the Croatian Party of Rights |
| Military wing | Croatian Defence Forces (1991–1993) |
| Membership(2011) | 41,400 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[3][4] |
| National affiliation | Coalition "Move"[5] (2016) |
| Colours | Black |
| Slogan | Bog i Hrvati (God and Croats) |
| Sabor | 0 / 151 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 12 |
| County Prefects | 0 / 21 |
| Mayors | 1 / 128 |
| Election symbol | |
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| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| http://hsp.hr/ | |
TheCroatian Party of Rights (Croatian:Hrvatska stranka prava,abbr.HSP) is anextra-parliamentarynationalist[3][6] andfar-right[3][7]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.[8]
The HSP, along with other modern Croatian parties, such as theCroatian Pure Party of Rights, claim legacy to theParty of Rights, which was founded in 1861 and existed until 1929.[citation needed]
A group of people restored Croatian Party of Rights on 25 February 1990.[9]Dobroslav Paraga, the first president of the party acknowledged the historical bounds with the olderParty of Rights. Soon, the party faced splits.[9] Krešimir Pavelić, a former secretary of the party, became president of the new Croatian Democratic Party of Rights.[9] Some otherrights parties that claimed origin from old Party of Rights appeared.[9] Croatian Party of Rights did not participate in theCroatian parliamentary election in 1990,[10] which helpedCroatian Democratic Union (HDZ) to win more votes.[10]
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.[11]
HSP's political appeal and strength were at peak during the 1991–92 whenCroatian Defence Forces, a military wing of the HSP, took heavy burden of defence of Croatia.[10] Paraga was the champion of the Croatian will for freedom and independence.[12] Paraga harshly and openly criticizedFranjo Tuđman for his cooperation with Serbia and the conflict withBosniaks inBosnia and Herzegovina.[12] The HSP used the writings ofAnte Starčević and the writings ofUstaše ideologues such asMile Budak to argue that Tuđman was not radical enough in his defence of the Croatian state.[13]
The ruling HDZ cooperated with the HSP until thefall 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.[9] They were later released. Paraga's main political and electoral platform was the creation of aGreater Croatia and the total defeat of the "Serbian aggressor".[10] In theCroatian parliamentary election held in 1992, HDZ lost 7% of votes in favor of the Party of Rights.[10]
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 theCroatian 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 theCroatian 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 threerights parties held a meeting inKutina and began preparations for a new union on a broad commonrights program.[9] The initiative for the meeting came from the new leaders of the HSP, Đapić and Boris Kandare,[9] who invited leaders of theCroatian Pure Party of Rights and theCroatian National Democratic League but the meeting was unsuccessful, and those parties are still acting separately.[9] During theparliamentary election in 1995, HSP lost popularity due to bad situation in the party in favor of HDZ.[10]
At the2003 Croatian parliamentary election, the HSP was in an alliance withMeđimurje Party,Zagorje Democratic Party and non-partisanSlaven 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,[14] merged into the HSP.
The first president of HDRS wasJoško Kovač. In September 2007, prominent membersMiroslav Rožić andTonči Tadić left the party. In November at the2007 Croatian parliamentary election, the party suffered a setback, as it won 3.5% of the popular vote and a single seat in Sabor. After the2009 Croatian local elections, which weren't particularly successful for the party either, turmoil in the party leadership escalated when a faction led by former representativesRuža Tomašić andPero Kovačević formed a splinter "Croatian Party of Rights — Dr. Ante Starčević".[15]
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 theCroatian parliamentary election in 2011 holders of their list in VII Electoral District (primaryLika andGorski Kotar) would be exclusively women.[16]
The party, for the first time, didn't win any parliamentary seats in the2011 Croatian parliamentary election, which led to a crisis in Party of Rights; leaders of theDalmatian branch of the party called for resignation of honorary president Anto Đapić.[17] The president of the HSP inSplit, Hrvoje Tomašević, asked for Đapić's resignation from politics and election in the party.[17] He was supported by the president of the HSP inDubrovnik, Denis Šešelj.[17] This appeal resulted in Đapić's resignation from party politics.[18]
On 28 January 2013, the Presidency of the Croatian Party of Rights expelled its former honorary president Đapić from the party.[19] 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.[20]
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.[21]
The following is a summary of the party's results in legislative elections for theCroatian 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 | Leader | In coalition with | Votes won | Percentage | Seats won | Change | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Coalition totals) | (HSP only) | ||||||
| 1992 | Dobroslav Paraga | None | 186,000 | 7.1% | 5 / 138 | New | Opposition |
| 1995 | Anto Đapić | None | 121,095 | 5.0% | 4 / 127 |  1 | Opposition |
| 2000 | HKDU | 152,699 | 5.2% | 4 / 151 |  0 | Opposition | |
| 2003 | ZDS–MS | 157,987 | 6.4% | 8 / 151 |  4 | Opposition | |
| 2007 | None | 86,865 | 3.5% | 1 / 153 | 7 | Opposition | |
| 2011 | Daniel Srb | HS | 72,360 | 3.0% | 0 / 151 | 1 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2015 | HKS–OS [hr] | 13,980 | 0.6% | 0 / 151 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2016 | HČSP–ABH–OS [hr] | 13,082 | 0.7% | 0 / 151 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2020 | Karlo Starčević | NHR–GO | 7,266 | 0.44% | 0 / 151 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2024 | Nikica Augustinović | HDSS–HB | 18,128 | 0.85% | 0 / 151 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
The following is a list of presidential candidates endorsed by HSP in elections forPresident of Croatia.
| Election year(s) | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 1992 | Dobroslav Paraga | 144,695 | 5.51 (#4) | Lost | ||
| 2000 | Anto Đapić | 49,288 | 1.84 (#5) | Lost | ||
| 2005 | Slaven Letica | 57,748 | 2.59 (#5) | Lost | ||
| 2009–10 | Dragan Primorac | 117,154 | 5.93 (#6) | Lost | ||
| 2014–15 | Milan Kujundžić | 112,585 | 6.30 (#4) | Lost | ||
| 2019-20 | Miroslav Škoro | 465,704 | 24.75 (#3) | Lost | ||
| 2024-25 | Tomislav Jonjić | 82,787 | 5.15 (#5) | Lost | ||
| 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 | 0 | |
| 2019 | Dražen Keleminec | NHR | 46,970 | 4.37 (#7) | 0 / 12 | 0 | |
| 2024 | Božo Petrov | Most–HS | 30,155 | 4.01 (#6) | 0 / 12 | 0 | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
