Prime Minister of Croatia
Template:Short description Template:Infobox official post
Template:Politics of Croatia The prime minister of Croatia, officially the president of the government of the Republic of Croatia (Template:Langx), is Croatia's head of government, and is de facto the most powerful and influential state officeholder in the Croatian system of government. Following the first-time establishment of the office in 1945, the 1990–2000 semi-presidential period is the only exception where the president of Croatia held de facto executive authority. In the formal Croatian order of precedence, however, the position of prime minister is the third highest state office, after the president of the Republic and the speaker of the Parliament.
The Constitution of Croatia prescribes that "Parliament supervises the Government" (Article 81) and that "the President of the Republic ensures the regular and balanced functioning and stability of government" (as a whole; Article 94), while the Government is introduced in Article 108.<ref name="constitution">Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2000, the prime minister has had various added constitutional powers and is mentioned before the Government itself in the text of the Constitution, in Articles 87, 97, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104.<ref name="constitution"/> The current prime minister of Croatia is Andrej Plenković. The Government of Croatia meets in Banski dvori, a historical building located on the west side of St. Mark's Square in Zagreb.
Name
The official name of the office, literally translated, is "President of the Government" (Predsjednik / Predsjednica Vlade), rather than a literal translation of "Prime Minister" (Prvi Ministar). In Croatian, the shorter term Template:Lang (Premier) is commonly used as well.
History
Background
The Royal Government of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (1868–1918) was headed by the Ban of Croatia (Viceroy), who represented the King.
The first head of government of Croatia as a constituent republic of Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was Vladimir Bakarić, who assumed the position on 14 April 1945. The position was then the most powerful public office in the state in addition to the position of the Secretary of the League of Communists of Croatia, as a single-party system was in place. The head of government was renamed to the President of the Executive Council in 1952. Notably, Savka Dabčević-Kučar was the first woman (not only in Croatia, but in Europe) to hold an office equivalent to a head of government as Chairman of the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Croatia (1967–1969).
Transition to independence
After the constitutional amendments that allowed for multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990, the country was still a constituent republic of SFR Yugoslavia, the position of the President of the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Croatia was filled by Stjepan Mesić on 30 May 1990 (the 14th Executive Council).
The newly-elected Croatian Parliament enacted numerous amendments to the constitution on 25 July 1990. It eliminated socialist references and adopted new national symbols, while the Government of the Republic of Croatia was formally instituted by Amendment LXXIII.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Constitution of Croatia was subsequently also changed significantly on 22 December 1990, as the so-called "Christmas Constitution" fundamentally defined the Republic of Croatia and its governmental structure. From this point onwards, Croatia was a semi-presidential republic, which meant the president of Croatia had broad executive powers (further expanded with laws to a point of superpresidentialism), including the appointment and dismissal of the prime minister and other officials in the government.
Following the May 1991 independence referendum in which 93% of voters approved secession, Croatia formally proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991, with Josip Manolić continuing in the role of prime minister as head of government of an independent Croatia. However, the country then signed the July 1991 Brijuni Agreement in which it agreed to postpone further activities towards severing ties with Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, the Croatian War of Independence ensued, and Franjo Gregurić was appointed to lead a Government of National Unity. In October the same year, Croatia formally severed all remaining legal ties with the Yugoslav Federation.
Since independence
During the period between 1990 and the next constitutional amendments in late 2000, Croatia had seven prime ministers.<ref name="hidra">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="vlada">Template:Cite web</ref>
Following the January 2000 general election the winning centre-left coalition led by the Social Democratic Party amended the Constitution and effectively stripped the President of most of his executive powers, strengthening the role of the Parliament and the prime minister, turning Croatia into a parliamentary republic. The prime minister again (as before 1990) became the foremost post in Croatian politics.
As of 2025 there have been 12 Prime Ministers who have chaired 16 governments since the first multi-party elections. Nine prime ministers were members of the Croatian Democratic Union during their terms of office, two were members of the Social Democratic Party and one was not a member of any political party. Since independence there has been one female prime minister (Jadranka Kosor).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
List of prime ministers
| No. | Portrait | Name Template:Small |
Election | Term of office | Party | Cabinet | Composition | President Template:Small | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term start | Term end | Duration | ||||||||
| Template:Party color cell Template:Color | 
|
Stjepan Mesić Template:Small |
1990 | 30 May 1990 | 24 August 1990 | Template:Age in years and days | [[Croatian Democratic Union|HDZ Template:Small]] |
Mesić | HDZ | Franjo Tuđman  Template:Small |
| Template:Party color cell Template:Color | 
|
Josip Manolić Template:Small |
Template:Mdash | 24 August 1990Template:Ref | 25 June 1991 | Template:Age in years and days | [[Croatian Democratic Union|HDZ Template:Small]] |
Manolić | HDZ | |
Croatia formally declared itself independent on 25 June 1991. After the declaration of independence, the position continued to be named the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia.
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- Notes
- 1.Template:Note From 1990 until the constitutional changes enacted in 2000, which replaced a powerful semi-presidential system (de facto a superpresidential system) with an incomplete parliamentary system, the term of the Prime Minister legally began on the date on which he was appointed by the President of the Republic and not on the date when he received a vote of confidence in Parliament, as is the case since 2000.
- 2.Template:Note Until 12 October 2010.
Timeline
This is a graphical lifespan timeline of prime ministers of Croatia. They are listed in order of office.
<timeline> Define $width = 1000 # 4 pixels per year ($end - $start) × 4 Define $warning = 880 # $width - 120 Define $height = 400 # 12 × 25 + 150 Define $footnote = 800 # $width - 400
Define $start = 1918 # Just before eldest (Manolić) was born Define $end = 2025 Define $now = 2025
ImageSize = width:$width height:$height PlotArea = right:10 left:1 bottom:80 top:60 Period = from:$start till:$end TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1
Colors =
id:bg value:white
id:lightline value:rgb(0.8, 0.8, 0.8)
id:lighttext value:rgb(0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
id:LIFESPAN value:rgb(0.88, 0.90, 0.70) Legend: Lifespan
id:PM_IND value:rgb(0.8, 0.8, 0.8) Legend: Independent
id:PM_HDZ value:rgb(0, 0.36, 0.67) Legend: HDZ
id:PM_SDP value:rgb(0.93, 0.11, 0.14) Legend: SDP
id:NAME value:rgb(0.15, 0.13, 0.05)
id:TODAY value:green
BackgroundColors = canvas:bg ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightline unit:year increment:1 start:$start ScaleMajor = gridcolor:lighttext unit:year increment:10 start:1920
Define $dy = -5 # shift text to button side of bar
LineData=
at:$now color:TODAY width:0.1
PlotData=
bar:1 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1934 till:1990 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Stjepan Mesić color:PM_HDZ from:1990 till:1990.4 color:LIFESPAN from:1990.4 till:$now
bar:2 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1920 till:1990.4 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Josip Manolić color:PM_HDZ from:1990.4 till:1991 color:LIFESPAN from:1991 till:2024
bar:3 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1939 till:1991 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Franjo Gregurić color:PM_HDZ from:1991 till:1992 color:LIFESPAN from:1992 till:$now
bar:4 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1935 till:1992 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Hrvoje Šarinić color:PM_HDZ from:1992 till:1993 color:LIFESPAN from:1993 till:2017
bar:5 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1950 till:1993 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Nikica Valentić color:PM_HDZ from:1993 till:1995 color:LIFESPAN from:1995 till:2023
bar:6 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1949 till:1995 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Zlatko Mateša color:PM_HDZ from:1995 till:2000 color:LIFESPAN from:2000 till:$now
bar:7 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1944 till:2000 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Ivica Račan color:PM_SDP from:2000 till:2003 color:LIFESPAN from:2003 till:2007
bar:8 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1953 till:2003 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Ivo Sanader color:PM_HDZ from:2003 till:2009 color:LIFESPAN from:2009 till:$now
bar:9 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1953 till:2009 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Jadranka Kosor color:PM_HDZ from:2009 till:2011 color:LIFESPAN from:2011 till:$now
bar:10 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1966 till:2011 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Zoran Milanović color:PM_SDP from:2011 till:2016 color:LIFESPAN from:2016 till:$now
bar:11 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1966 till:2016 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Tihomir Orešković color:PM_IND from:2016 till:2016.4 color:LIFESPAN from:2016.4 till:$now
bar:12 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1970 till:2016.4 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Andrej Plenković color:PM_HDZ from:2016.4 till:$now
TextData =
fontsize:M textcolor:green pos:($warning,30) text:Updated 12/2025
TextData =
pos:(250,$height) fontsize:L textcolor:black text:"Lifespan and terms of office of each Croatian Prime Minister"</timeline>
Spouses of prime ministers
| Name | Relation to Prime Minister |
|---|---|
| Milka Mesić (née Dudunić) | wife of Prime Minister Stjepan Mesić |
| Marija Eker Manolić | wife of Prime Minister Josip Manolić |
| Jozefina Gregurić (née Abramović) | wife of Prime Minister Franjo Gregurić |
| Erika Šarinić | wife of Prime Minister Hrvoje Šarinić |
| Antonela Valentić | wife of Prime Minister Nikica Valentić |
| Sanja Gregurić-Mateša | wife of Prime Minister Zlatko Mateša |
| Dijana Pleština | wife of Prime Minister Ivica Račan |
| Mirjana Sanader (née Šarić) | wife of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader |
| Jadranka Kosor divorced before becoming prime minister | |
| Sanja Musić Milanović | wife of Prime Minister Zoran Milanović |
| Sanja Dujmović Orešković | wife of Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković |
| Ana Maslać Plenković | wife of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković |
See also
- List of cabinets of Croatia
- List of Croatian prime ministers by time in office
- President of Croatia
- Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
- Secretary of the League of Communists of Croatia
- Politics of Croatia
- List of heads of state of Yugoslavia
- Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
- 2020 St. Mark's Square attack
References
Template:Croatia topics Template:Croatian Prime Minister Template:Europe heads of state and government Template:European Council Template:Prime Minister