Socialist Labour Party of Croatia

Socialist Labour Party of Croatia (Croatian: Socijalistička radnička partija Hrvatske or SRP) is a communist party in Croatia, also known as Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia. It is considered to be one of the more authentically left-wing parties in Croatian politics.[2][3] Their youth wing are the Young Socialists of Croatia (Croatian: Mladi Socijalisti Hrvatske).

Socialist Labour Party of Croatia Socijalistička radnička partija Hrvatske
President	Vesna Konigsknecht (since 2018)
Founder	Stipe Šuvar
Founded	25 October 1997 (1997-10-25)[1]
Headquarters	Pavla Hatza 16, Zagreb, Croatia
Newspaper	Socijalizam danas
Youth wing	Young Socialists
Membership (2004)	3,500[1]
Ideology	Communism Democratic socialism Marxism
Political position	Far-left
European affiliation	INITIATIVE EACL
International affiliation	IMCWP
Colours	Red
Sabor	0 / 151
European Parliament	0 / 12
County Prefects	0 / 21
Mayors	0 / 128
Website
www.srp.hr
Politics of Croatia Political parties Elections

Ideology

The party identifies as the meeting point of many different leftist ideologies.[4][5] It emphasizes the importance of worker self-management and participatory democracy.[5] Socialist Labour Party supports new social movements; party delegates have supported Zagreb Pride and the union protests.

Defending the good name of Yugoslav resistance movement during the World War II is also one of the key issues.[5] The Party also considers the war in the Nineties to be a civil war rather than a “Homeland war” which is a unique position among parties in Croatia.

The youth section of SRP is called Young Socialists.

Publications

The official paper is called Croatian: Socijalizam danas (Socialism Today).

Party organization in Split publishes its own paper - Croatian: Gariful (The Carnation).

History

The Party was formed in 1997 by a group of leftists gathered around the magazine called Hrvatska ljevica (Croatian Left) and its chief editor Stipe Šuvar. SRP filled a hole on the Croatian political left after the Social Democratic Union had lost influence and members and the Social Democratic Action moved more to the center.

The first election it contested was the 2000 parliamentary election. The party won 18,863 votes (0.66%).[6]

After the elections, a group of members from the Socialist Youth, the party's youth wing, left to form Green Left of Croatia.

In the 2001 local elections SRP won some seats in smaller, ethnically mixed communities, such as Daruvar, Donji Lapac and Vrhovine.[7]

The party ran in the following 2003 parliamentary election and got 15,515 votes (0,59%).[8]

In 2004 Stipe Šuvar resigned as party president and was replaced by Ivan Plješa.[9]

Shortly after, a minority of members left to form Socialist Party of Croatia - Left Alternative, mostly due to personal disputes. The activist core, including the youth wing and the entire editorial board of Hrvatska ljevica (which worked beside the late Stipe Šuvar) is still a part of the SRP.

On last local elections in 2005, SRP formed a joint list with Social Democratic Union, New Alternative Party - Green Movement, Green Left of Croatia and Green Party but did not win any seats in local or regional assemblies, although it came close in several cities such as Šibenik, Rijeka and Pula).[10]

For the 2007 election it formed an alliance with the Left of Croatia.[11] The alliance got 9 884 votes (0.4%).[12] The party contested the 2011 election alone and won 5 177 votes (0.22%).[13]

Foreign relations

The Party attended several International Communist Seminars[14][15] hosted by the Workers' Party of Belgium and International Conference of Communist & Workers' Parties. It also contains a group called Workers' Struggle (Radnička borba) that is close to the reunified Fourth International.[16]

Electoral history

Legislative

Election	In coalition with	Votes won (coalition totals)	Percentage	Seats won	Change
2000	None	18,863	0.66%	0 / 151
2003	None	15,515	0.59%	0 / 151
2007	LH-HSD-ISDF	9,884	0.40%	0 / 151
2011	None	5,177	0.22%	0 / 151
2015	None	2,528	0.12%	0 / 151
2016	None	3,672	0.19%	0 / 151
2020	None	2,149	0.13%	0 / 151

European Parliament

Election	In coalition with	Votes won (coalition totals)	Percentage	Seats won	Change
2013	None	3,538	0.48%	0 / 12
2014	None	1,769	0.19%	0 / 11
2019	RF	2,622	0.24%	0 / 12

See also

• Young Socialists of Croatia
• Left of Croatia
• Hrvatska ljevica
• Novi Plamen
• League of Communists of Yugoslavia
• Serbian Party of Socialists (Croatia)
• Socialist Party of Croatia – Left Alternative
• Socialist Party of Croatia
• Social Democratic Union (Croatia)

References

1. "Socijalistička radnička partija Hrvatske". HIDRA. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
2. Robert Bajruši (22 June 2004). "RH će biti zemlja 4 milijuna staraca i još toliko Europljana s vikendicama" [Croatia will be a country of 4 million elderly and as many Europeans with holiday homes] (in Croatian). Nacional (weekly). Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
3. "Greška 404 - Dani". Bhdani.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-18. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
4. Archived June 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
5. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
6. Archived October 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
7. Archived June 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
8. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
9. 30 Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
10. Archived May 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
11. "HRT: Naslovnica". Izbori.hrt.hr. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
12. "IZBORI 2007". Izbori.hr. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
13. "Izbori 2011". Izbori.hr. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
14. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
15. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website (in Croatian)