Politics of Croatia - Local Government

Local Government

Croatia was first subdivided into counties (Croatian: županija) in the Middle Ages. The divisions changed over time to reflect losses of territory to Ottoman conquest and the subsequent recapture of the same territory, and changes to the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and Istria. The traditional division of the country into counties was abolished in the 1920s, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the subsequent Kingdom of Yugoslavia introduced oblasts and banovinas respectively. After 1945 under Communist rule, Croatia, as a constituent part of Yugoslavia, abolished these earlier divisions and introduced municipalities, subdividing Croatia into approximately one hundred municipalities. Counties, significantly altered in terms of territory relative to the pre-1920s subdivisions, were reintroduced in 1992 legislation. In 1918, the Transleithanian part of Croatia was divided into eight counties with their seats in Bjelovar, Gospić, Ogulin, Požega, Vukovar, Varaždin, Osijek and Zagreb; the 1992 legislation established fifteen counties in the same territory. Since the counties were re-established in 1992, Croatia is divided into twenty counties and the capital city of Zagreb, the latter having the authority and legal status of a county and a city at the same time. In some instances, the boundaries of the counties have been changed, with the latest revision taking place in 2006. The counties subdivide into 127 cities and 429 municipalities.

The county prefects, city and municipal mayors are elected to four-year terms by a majority of votes cast within applicable local government units. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round, a runoff election is held. Members of county, city and municipal councils are elected to four-year terms, through proportional representation with the entire local government unit as a single constituency.

The number of members of the councils is defined by the councils themselves, based on applicable legislation. Electoral committees are then tasked with determining whether the national ethnic minorities are represented on the council as required by the constitution. Further members who belong to the minorities may be added to the council in no candidate of that minority has been elected through the proportional representation system. Election silence, as in all other types of elections in Croatia, when campaigning is forbidden, is enforced the day before the election and continues until 19:00 hours on the election day when the polling stations close and exit polls may be announced. Six nationwide local elections have been held in Croatia since 1990, the most recent being the 2009 local elections to elect county prefects and councils, and city and municipal councils and mayors. In 2009, the HDZ-led coalitions won a majority or plurality in fifteen county councils, and thirteen county prefect elections. SDP-led coalitions won a majority or plurality in five county councils, including the city of Zagreb council, and the remaining county council election was won by IDS-SDP coalition. The SDP won four county prefect elections and the city of Zagreb mayoral election, the HSS won three county prefect elections, and the HNS and the HDSSB won a single county prefect election each.