2000 Zagreb local elections
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7 May 2000
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All 50 seats to the Zagreb Assembly 26 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 33.7% 33.91 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections were held in Zagreb on 7 May 2000 for members of the Zagreb Assembly. The elections were called after the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) lost the majority in the Assembly, and the Croatian Government dismissed it and appointed an acting mayor.
In a record low turnout, the Zagreb Alternative coalition, led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), won a majority of seats in the Assembly. The HNS was the biggest surprise in the election and won nine seats, while the HDZ suffered a heavy defeat and gained only five seats. Milan Bandić, who led the list of the SDP, was elected mayor by the Zagreb Assembly on 31 May.
In the 2000 Croatian parliamentary election, a coalition led by the two major Croatian opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) and the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), won the majority in the Croatian Parliament and defeated the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which was in power since 1990. Milan Bandić, the leader of the SDP's Zagreb branch, said that they will "not wait for the local elections in 2001 to take over power in Zagreb", where the HDZ held the majority since the 1997 local elections and the end of the Zagreb Crisis. Bandić collected the resignations of all 24 members of the opposition parties in the Zagreb Assembly, as well as from two HDZ members. The new Croatian Government immediately dismissed the Zagreb Assembly and appointed Josip Kregar as the acting mayor, in place of incumbent HDZ's Marina Matulović-Dropulić. Though the two HDZ members later withdrew their resignations, Kregar said that it was "too late".[1]
On 11 March, the HDZ's Zagreb branch appointed Davorin Tepeš as its president, replacing the dismissed Zlatko Canjuga.[2] Kregar formally became the acting mayor on 13 March,[3] and snap elections were called for 7 May.[4]
The SDP and the HSLS participated in the elections in a coalition with the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Social Democratic Action of Croatia (ASH), the Liberal Party (LS), and the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU). The coalition's name was Zagreb Alternative.[5]
