Croatian Democratic Union in the context of "Elections in Croatia"

The Government of Croatia (Croatian: Vlada Hrvatske), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (Vlada Republike Hrvatske), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (hrvatska Vlada), is the main executive branch in Croatia. It is led by the president of the Government (predsjednik Vlade), informally abbreviated to premier (premijer) or prime minister. The prime minister is nominated by the president of the Republic from among those candidates who enjoy majority support in the Croatian Parliament (Sabor); the candidate is then chosen by the Parliament. There are 20 other government members, serving as deputy prime ministers, government ministers or both; they are chosen by the prime minister and confirmed by the Parliament. The Government of the Republic of Croatia exercises its executive powers in conformity with the Croatian Constitution and legislation enacted by the Croatian Parliament. The current government is led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and the Government of the Land or officially the Royal Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian Government of the Land (Zemaljska vlada or Kraljevska hrvatsko-slavonsko-dalmatinska zemaljska vlada)—headed by a crown-appointed ban—were established. This government existed until the Austria-Hungary breakup and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes' creation in 1918. In 1939, the Banovina of Croatia was established and a head of the Banovina of Croatia (Ban) was appointed by the crown, but no effective government was formed before World War II. In 1943, the ZAVNOH established an executive board to act as a new government. The Socialist Republic of Croatia, as a part of federal Yugoslavia, had a separate government (from 1953 to 1990 known as the Executive Council, appointed by the Sabor) with limited powers (excluding defence and foreign relations; this was similar to all the previous governmental forms). Following the first multi-party elections and the adoption of the present Constitution of Croatia in 1990, the present governmental form was adopted and Stjepan Mesić became the first person to lead a non-communist government (under Government of Yugoslavia), while Josip Manolić was the first prime minister of an independent Croatia. Since the introduction of multi-party democracy, the Republic of Croatia has had fourteen governments headed by twelve different prime ministers. Nine governments have been formed by the Croatian Democratic Union, three by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, one was headed by a non-partisan prime minister and one was a national unity government (formed during the Croatian War of Independence's peak).

Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the country's independence from Yugoslavia. Tuđman also was the ninth and last president of the Presidency of SR Croatia from May to July 1990.

Tuđman was born in Veliko Trgovišće. In his youth, he fought during World War II as a member of the Yugoslav Partisans. After the war, he took a post in the Ministry of Defence, later attaining the rank of major general of the Yugoslav People's Army in 1960. After his military career, he dedicated himself to the study of geopolitics. In 1963, he became a professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Political Sciences. He received a doctorate in history in 1965 and worked as a historian until coming into conflict with the regime. Tuđman participated in the Croatian Spring movement that called for reforms in the country and was imprisoned for his activities in 1972. He lived relatively anonymously in the following years until the end of communism, whereupon he began his political career by founding the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in 1989.