Leader of the Opposition (Croatia)

In Croatia, the Opposition (Croatian: Oporba) comprises all political parties represented in the Croatian Parliament that are not part of the Government which is supported by the parliamentary majority.

Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent Siniša Hajdaš Dončić since 21 September 2024
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government

The Leader of the Opposition (Croatian: Šef oporbe) is the unofficial title held by the leader of the largest party with no representatives within the government. Where one party wins outright this is usually the leader of the second largest political party in the Parliament (usually the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) or the Social Democratic Party (SDP)).

The current Leader of the Opposition is Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, president of the SDP, who took up the role on 21 September 2024, after winning the elections for the head of the Social Democratic Party.

6th assembly of Sabor

In the Sixth assembly of the Croatian Parliament (2007–2011), the parties in Sabor that included the opposition were:

• Social Democratic Party
• Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats
• Istrian Democratic Assembly
• Croatian Democratic Assembly of Slavonia and Baranja
• Croatian Party of Pensioners
• Croatian Party of Rights
• Croatian Labourists – Labour Party

The leader of the opposition was Zoran Milanović, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia.

7th assembly of Sabor

In the Seventh assembly of the Croatian Parliament (2011–2015), the parties in Sabor that include the opposition were:

• Croatian Democratic Union
• Croatian Labourists – Labour Party
• Croatian Democratic Assembly of Slavonia and Baranja
• Independent list of Ivan Grubišić
• Croatian Citizen Party
• Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starčević
• Croatian Peasant Party
• Democratic Centre

8th assembly of Sabor

In the Eight assembly of the Croatian Parliament (2015–2016), the parties in Sabor that include the opposition are:

• Social Democratic Party
• Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats
• Croatian Labourists – Labour Party
• Istrian Democratic Assembly
• Croatian Party of Pensioners
• Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja
• People's Party - Reformists
• Human Blockade

9th assembly of Sabor

In the Ninth assembly of the Croatian Parliament (2016–2020), the parties in Sabor that include the opposition are:

• Social Democratic Party
• Istrian Democratic Assembly
• Human Blockade
• Croatian Party of Pensioners
• Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja
• Bridge of Independent Lists

The leader of the opposition from 14 October 2016 until 26 November 2016 was Zoran Milanović and since 26 November 2016 it has been Davor Bernardić, the leader of the Social Democratic Party.

10th assembly of Sabor

In the Tenth assembly of the Croatian Parliament (2020–), the parties in Sabor that include the opposition are:

• Social Democratic Party
• Istrian Democratic Assembly
• The Bridge
• Homeland Movement
• We can!
• Croatian Sovereignists
• Social Democrats (since 9 July 2022)

The acting leader of the opposition from 6 July 2020 until 3 October 2020 was Zlatko Komadina, and from 3 October 2020 until 9 July 2022 it had been Peđa Grbin, the leader of the Social Democratic Party. A new party called the Social Democrats was founded on 9 July 2022, and it immediately became the largest opposition party in parliament. Its leader, Davorko Vidović, thus took up the role of leader of the opposition.

List of leaders of the Opposition since the first multi-party election

  Social Democratic Party (4)   Croatian Social Liberal Party (1)   Croatian Democratic Union (3)   Social Democrats (1)

No.	Leader		Political Party	Term of office	Duration	Prime Minister
1		Ivica Račan	Party of Democratic Changes	30 May 1990– 17 July 1991	1 year, 48 days	Stjepan Mesić (1990) Josip Manolić (1990–1991)
None — National Unity Government				17 July 1991– 12 August 1992	1 year, 27 days	Franjo Gregurić (1991–1992)
2		Dražen Budiša	Croatian Social Liberal Party	12 August 1992– 27 January 2000	7 years, 167 days	Hrvoje Šarinić (1992–1993) Nikica Valentić (1993–1995) Zlatko Mateša (1995–2000)
—		Vladimir Šeks[1]	Croatian Democratic Union	27 January 2000– 30 April 2000	93 days	Ivica Račan (2000–2003)
3		Ivo Sanader	Croatian Democratic Union	30 April 2000– 23 December 2003	3 years, 237 days
(1)		Ivica Račan	Social Democratic Party	23 December 2003– 11 April 2007	3 years, 109 days	Ivo Sanader (2003–2009) Jadranka Kosor (2009–2011)
—		Željka Antunović[1]	Social Democratic Party	11 April 2007– 2 June 2007	52 days
4		Zoran Milanović	Social Democratic Party	2 June 2007– 23 December 2011	4 years, 204 days
5		Jadranka Kosor	Croatian Democratic Union	23 December 2011– 21 May 2012	150 days	Zoran Milanović (2011–2016)
6		Tomislav Karamarko	Croatian Democratic Union	21 May 2012– 22 January 2016	3 years, 246 days
(4)		Zoran Milanović	Social Democratic Party	22 January 2016– 26 November 2016	309 days	Tihomir Orešković (2016) Andrej Plenković (2016–present)
7		Davor Bernardić	Social Democratic Party	26 November 2016– 6 July 2020	3 years, 223 days
—		Zlatko Komadina[1]	Social Democratic Party	6 July 2020– 3 October 2020	89 days
8		Peđa Grbin	Social Democratic Party	3 October 2020– 9 July 2022	1 year, 279 days
9		Davorko Vidović	Social Democrats	9 July 2022– 16 May 2024	1 year, 312 days
(8)		Peđa Grbin	Social Democratic Party	16 May 2024– 21 September 2024	128 days
10		Siniša Hajdaš Dončić	Social Democratic Party	21 September 2024– present	91 days

Leaders of the Opposition by time in office

1. Dražen Budiša 7 years, 167 days
2. Zoran Milanović 5 years, 148 days
3. Ivica Račan 4 years, 157 days
4. Tomislav Karamarko 3 years, 246 days
5. Ivo Sanader 3 years, 237 days
6. Davor Bernardić 3 years, 223 days
7. Peđa Grbin 2 years, 42 days
8. Davorko Vidović 1 year, 312 days
9. Jadranka Kosor 150 days
10. Vladimir Šeks (Acting) 93 days
11. Zlatko Komadina (Acting) 89 days
12. Željka Antunović (Acting) 52 days

References

1. Acting Leader of the Opposition

See also

• Politics of Croatia