Istrian Democratic Assembly
The Istrian Democratic Assembly ( kroat. Istrian demokratski sabor, IDS, Italian Dieta democratica istriana DDI) is a left- liberal party in Croatia. While the IDS / DDI represents a regional party in particular the interests of the population in Istria, but it is also active in national politics in Croatia. She currently has three seats in the Croatian Parliament. Party chairman of IDS is Ivan Jakovčić.
Modern History
The party was founded in 1990 before the first free elections in Croatia. However, they decided not to participate in the elections. So they allowed the Croatian communists who had renamed the verge of Croatia's Social Democratic (SDP ) party to win the whole region Istria by votes. The IDS then entered the first time in the parliamentary elections in 1992 and took losses of the SDP to conquer all three Istrian constituencies.
The election result made Istria an area of special attention for the Croatian president Franjo Tuđman and his Croatian Democratic Union ( HDZ), which dominated in all other parts of Croatia. The first Croatian general election, which coincided with the elections in the newly formed County of Istria, a state-controlled media campaign was launched which aimed almost exclusively on Istria. The campaign proved to be a spectacular own goal, as nearly three-quarters of the Istrian voters voted for the IDS. Since this election, no other party has been able to break the hegemony of the IDS in the region.
The IDS is committed to its own cultural and economic identity of Istria and the equal status of the Italian and Croatian language in Istria. This did not meet the policy of Tuđman and his pronounced national conservative politics. The other Croat parties proved in this respect as a pragmatic, so that the IDS formed a coalition with other parties also in elections in the Croatian parliament and. In Istria itself, however, the IDS is involved in a violent conflict with the local subsidiary of the SDP party and also with the former member and the first prefect Luciano Delbianco who separated themselves from the party and founded the Istrian Democratic Forum.
The IDS was after the successful elections in 2000, when her coalition with the most votes won SDP party, for a short time part of the national government. But a year later left the IDS, the coalition due to disagreements in the Istria policy and because of the way as the party of Ivica Račan treated the coalition partners. However, the IDS supported the SDP still in Parliament.
2006 joined the IDS of the European Liberal Party ( ELDR) at.
For the election of Sabor in December 2011, the IDS was victorious with the US-led coalition and the SDP Kukuriku moved with three ministers in the coalition government.