Democratic Centre (Croatia)

The party was formed in April 2000 by former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) senior government officials Mate Granić and Vesna Škare-Ožbolt. They both left the conservative HDZ after the party's decisive defeat in the January 2000 election, and Mate Granić's defeat in the February 2000 presidential race.

The 2000 defeat, which came in the aftermath of the death of the party's longtime leader Franjo Tuđman, ousted HDZ after nearly a decade of being in power. In the ensuing internal power struggles, a number of factions, ranging from hard-line nationalists to center-right moderates, left to form their own parties. Granić, former foreign minister, and Škare-Ožbolt, a jurist, were among the more prominent moderates. When the party was formed, DC described themselves as a "modern democratic popular party with a European orientation, and a party advocating for a strong civil society."{{Cite web|url=https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2001_11_98_1644.html|title = Statut Demokratskog centra}}

Meanwhile Ivo Sanader prevailed as HDZ's new leader and began moving the party towards the center-right. In the 2003 general election DC was allied with HDZ, and, following HDZ's return to power, gained a single seat in the Croatian Parliament, and a single ministerial post in the Cabinet of Ivo Sanader I, as Škare-Ožbolt, the party's leader and their only representative elected to parliament, was appointed Justice Minister.

She held the post from December 2003 to February 2006,{{cite web |url=http://hidran.hidra.hr/hidrarad/rh/rh69.htm |title=Vlada: 9 / predsjednik Vlade: Dr. sc. Ivo Sanader (2003-12-23/2008-01-12) |publisher=HIDRA |language=Croatian |accessdate=23 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120710064634/http://hidran.hidra.hr/hidrarad/rh/rh69.htm |archivedate=10 July 2012 }} when she was forced to step down by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader following allegations that she leaked information to the media,{{cite magazine|url=http://arhiva.nacional.hr/clanak/23140/4-razloga-za-smjenu-vesne-skare-ozbolt|title=4 razloga za smjenu Vesne Škare Ožbolt|date=13 February 2006|magazine=Nacional|issue=535|language=hr|accessdate=19 July 2019}} although some media pundits ascribed her resignation to her prominent public stance and ministerial results which overshadowed HDZ ministers. After that, DC spent the rest of their existence in opposition.

In October 2002, the Democratic Centre became an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP).{{cite web|url=https://vlada.gov.hr/vijesti/europska-pucka-stranka-vodeca-politicka-snaga-europe/6006|title=Europska pučka stranka - vodeća politička snaga Europe|date=28 March 2006|work=vlada.gov.hr|publisher=Government of Croatia|language=hr|accessdate=14 February 2017}}

In the 2007 general elections DC ran independently, entering coalition agreements with the Green Party in some constituencies. They failed to win any seats in the 153-seat parliament. Škare-Ožbolt also ran for President in the 2009–10 election as a formally independent candidate but only managed to win 37,373 or 1.89% of votes in the first round, finishing 11th out of twelve candidates.{{cite web |url=http://www.izbori.hr/2009Predsjednik/rezultati/r_00_0000.html |title=Potpuni službeni rezultati izbora za predsjednika Republike Hrvatske |date=28 December 2009 |publisher=Izbori.hr |language=Croatian |accessdate=23 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420222242/http://www.izbori.hr/2009Predsjednik/rezultati/r_00_0000.html |archive-date=20 April 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

On 6 November 2015, Škare-Ožbolt and the leader of HDZ at the time, Tomislav Karamarko, signed a formal agreement formalizing the merger of DC back into HDZ.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/demokratski-centar-presao-u-hrvatsku-demokratsku-zajednicu-20151106|title=Demokratski centar prešao u Hrvatsku demokratsku zajednicu}} DC ceased to exist when it was struck from the register of political parties in April 2016.

The following is a summary of the party's results in elections for the Croatian Parliament. The "Votes won" and "Percentage" columns include total sums of votes won by campaign coalitions that DC had been part of, and the "Seats won" column shows results achieved by DC.

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{{Croatian political parties}}

Category:Croatian Democratic Union

Category:Political parties established in 2000

Category:Conservative parties in Croatia

Category:2000 establishments in Croatia

Category:Classical liberal parties

Category:Centrist parties in Croatia

Category:2015 disestablishments in Croatia

Category:Political parties disestablished in 2015