The Seventh Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Sedma Vlada Republike Hrvatske) was the first of two Croatian Government cabinets led by Prime MinisterIvica Račan. It was appointed on 27 January 2000 by a decree of the Acting President of the Republic and Speaker of Parliament, Vlatko Pavletić. The cabinet was confirmed by a parliamentary vote of confidence in the Chamber of Representatives on 2 February 2000, with 122 of 151 Members of Parliament voting for, 1 against and 1 abstaining. Its term ended on 30 July 2002, when it was reconstructed and replaced by Cabinet of Ivica Račan II. The cabinet was formed following the 2000 parliamentary elections, in which the centre-right party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was defeated by a broad coalition of several centre-left parties. This marked an end to HDZ's dominance in Croatian politics since the first multi-party election in 1990. However, the period under Prime Minister Račan was marred with constant disagreements among coalition members, which later led to some parties leaving the ruling coalition. This ultimately paved the way for HDZ's return to power in the 2003 parliamentary elections.
Parties included in the original coalition and their quotas:
Liberal Party (LS) – 1 seat in the cabinet (1 minister)
This was the last cabinet to hold office under a relatively powerful semi-presidential system (at times more resembling a superpresidential system), as constitutional changes implemented by the new center-left government shifted considerable political power and authority away from the President of the Republic towards the prime minister and his government cabinet as a whole. However, the new parliamentary system retains the direct election of the President by universal suffrage (rather than a president who would be elected by parliament) and can therefore be considered to be an incomplete one.
Motions of confidence
Vote on the confirmation of the 7th Government of the Republic of Croatia
Ballot
9 February 2000
Absentees
27 / 151
Required majority
76 Yes votes out of 151 votes (Absolute majority of the total number of Members of Parliament)
President of the Istrian regionalist IDS party Ivan Jakovčić resigns as minister for European integration, after his party decides to leave the ruling coalition. This was the only post in the cabinet held by IDS. The decision was triggered by unresolved differences over the new Istria County statute proposed by IDS which introduced Italian language as co-official at the county level, only to be suspended by justice ministry.[2] After 13 contentious articles of the statute were amended, it was eventually adopted in November 2001.[3] Prior to his resignation, Jakovčić ran in the May 2001 local elections and was appointed Prefect of Istria County in July, a post he held until June 2013.
Justice minister Stjepan Ivanišević resigns, citing health reasons. According to media reports, he had handed over his resignation in June, but the decision was postponed by prime minister Račan until September.[4] In a 2011 interview Ivanišević said there were also other factors which contributed to his decision, including the disagreements on whether to abolish the Chamber of Counties in what was then a bicameral parliament, and the handling of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for Croatian Army generals Rahim Ademi and Ante Gotovina issued in June 2001.[5]
Senior SDP member Neven Mimica takes office as minister for European integration, succeeding Jakovčić. In addition, SDP's Ingrid Antičević-Marinović is appointed justice minister, replacing fellow SDP member Ivanišević.
23 October 2001
Non-party
Ana Stavljenić-Rukavina, non-party health minister appointed within HSLS quota, resigns over a scandal after 23 kidney patients had died in several hospitals around the country after they had received dialysis treatment. Investigation showed that the deaths were caused by faulty dialysis filters produced by Baxter International and imported by Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva.[6] Her deputy minister, SDP member Rajko Ostojić, also offered to resign, but the offer was rejected by the cabinet.[7]
Senior HSLS member and head of Dubrovnik Hospital, Andro Vlahušić, takes office as health minister, succeeding Stavljenić-Rukavina.[8] This increases the number of HSLS seats in the cabinet to seven.
Following his surprise defeat in the January 2000 presidential election, HSLS leader Dražen Budiša returned to his seat in the Croatian parliament, but then resigned from party presidency in July 2001, opposing coalition government's handling of arrest warrants issued by the Hague war crimes tribunal for two Croatian Army generals, and after his stance on the matter was not met with support by fellow party members.[9] Budiša then continued to vocally criticise HSLS members of the cabinet, asking for Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granić to resign.[9] In February 2002 he nevertheless ran in internal party election and assumed party presidency again. This provoked a political crisis over whether the party would stay in the coalition, but in March he replaced Goran Granić as Deputy Prime Minister, a seat reserved for HSLS' coalition quota. In addition, the party decides to change two other ministers in the government, with Mario Kovač replacing Alojz Tušek as minister for maritime affairs, transport and communications, and Hrvoje Vojković replacing Goranko Fižulić as minister of economy.
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