Croatia is observing Statehood Day on Monday in memory of May 30, 1990, when, after decades of communist rule, the foundations of the modern Croatian parliament, the Sabor, were created and its historic role in the preservation of Croatian statehood was confirmed.

Members of the new parliament of the then still Socialist Republic of Croatia elected Zarko Domljan as parliament speaker while Ivica Percan, Stjepan Sulimanac and Vladimir Seks were elected his deputies.

Stjepan Mesic was elected chairman of the Parliament’s Executive Committee and Franjo Tudjman chairman of the Socialist Republic of Croatia Presidency.

Addressing the MPs on that occasion, Tudjman said that throughout history “the Croatian state parliament was the guardian of the sovereignty (except from 1918 to 1941) of the Croatian people in relation to other national and state communities.”

The first parliament had 351 members and three councils – the Municipalities Council, the Associated Labour Council, and the Social-Political Council.

The centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had 207 seats, the League of Communists of Croatia – Party of Democratic Changes 107, the Coalition of People’s Accord 21, and the Serb Democratic Party five, while 13 seats went to independent and ethnic minority MPs.

The 1990 parliament was in office a little over two years. Elections for its House of Representatives were held in August 1992 and the new Sabor was unicameral and had 138 MPs.

Independently of that and the fact that it served part of its term in wartime, the first parliament adopted historic decisions on Croatia’s sovereignty and independence, on severing state and legal ties with the Yugoslav federation, as well as the 1990 Christmas Constitution.

This year is the third in a row in which Croatia is observing Statehood Day on May 30. Three years ago, Croatian Parliament Day was marked on that day, a memorial and working day, while Statehood Day was observed on June 25, a public holiday and non-working day.

In 2019, the HDZ majority in parliament reinstated May 30 as Statehood Day as it was in the 1990s.