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Croatian presidential election, 1992


Croatian presidential election, 1992

Croatian presidential election, 1992

2 August 1992

Nominee Franjo Tuđman Dražen Budiša Savka Dabčević-Kučar
Popular vote 1,519,100 585,535 161,242
Percentage 56.73% 21.87% 6.02%

President before election

Franjo Tuđman

Elected President

Franjo Tuđman

Presidential elections were held in Croatia for the first time on 2 August 1992 alongside simultaneous parliamentary elections.[1] The result was a victory for incumbent Franjo Tuđman of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), who received 57.8% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president of Croatia. Voter turnout was 74.9%.[2]

The 1,519,000 votes received by Tuđman remains the highest number of votes won by any president to date. Having previously been selected as president by Parliament, he was sworn in for his first proper term as president on 12 August 1992 at Saint Mark's square in Zagreb.


The elections were criticised by international observers, who noted several problems, including issues with opposition access to state media, the timing of the election and the impartiality of officials.[3] The timing was deemed to be favourable to the HDZ government, who had delayed approving electoral laws in violation of the country's new constitution.[3] The period of time between the announcement of the elections and the election date itself was considered "unusually short", making it difficult for opposition parties and election officials to prepare.[3] The elections were also scheduled for a holiday, when a significant number of people would be away from their home towns and unable to vote.[3]


Candidate Party Votes %
Franjo Tuđman Croatian Democratic Union 1,519,100 57.8
Dražen Budiša Croatian Social Liberal Party 585,535 22.3
Savka Dabčević-Kučar Croatian People's Party 161,242 6.1
Dobroslav Paraga Croatian Party of Rights 144,695 5.5
Silvije Degen Socialist Party of Croatia 108,979 4.1
Marko Veselica Croatian Democratic Party 45,593 1.7
Ivan Cesar Croatian Christian Democratic Party 43,134 1.6
Antun Vujić Social Democrats of Croatia 18,783 0.7
Invalid/blank votes 50,703
Total 2,677,764 100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, p419; Official results[4]


  1. ^ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p410 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p419
  3. ^ a b c d Elections in the Republic of Croatia: 2 August 1992 International Republican Institute
  4. ^ "1992 Izbori za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske" [1992 Elections for the Croatian President] (PDF). Croatian State Election Committee. 2 August 1992. 
