We can! (Croatia)

We Can! – Political Platform (Croatian: Možemo! – politička platforma) is a left-wing, green political party in Croatia formed by local green and leftist movements and initiatives in order act on national level for European Parliament and parliament elections.

We Can! – Political Platform
Možemo! – politička platforma
LeaderCollective leadership
Founded10 February 2019 (2019-02-10)
HeadquartersZagreb
Membership (2021)172[1]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing[3][6]
National affiliation
Colours  Green
  Red
Sabor
4 / 151
European Parliament
0 / 12
County Prefects
1 / 21
Mayors
2 / 128
Zagreb Assembly
19 / 47
Website
mozemo.hr

After the 2021 local elections in Zagreb, they became the largest political party in the Zagreb Assembly, winning 23 seats in total.[7] Their mayoral candidate Tomislav Tomašević won a landslide victory on 31 May.

History

The party originated first as the initiative committee consisting of activists and left-wing politicians, 26 of them, mostly coming from the Zagreb is OURS! party, but also including other independent movements across the country within the same political and ideological spectrum.[8][9]

Founding

The party was officially founded on 10 February 2019,[9] prior to the elections for the European Parliament held that year, stating their primary areas of interest being better education, better health policies, social and gender equality, support for migrants, renewable sources of energy, and sustainable agriculture.[10]

The founding assembly defined that the party does not have an official president, but instead has two coordinators – from among the membership Sandra Benčić and Teodor Celakoski were elected[9][11] – who along with another five members of the party make up its Party Board.[11] Other prominent members of the Initiative committee at the time, most of whom remain active, included Danijela Dolenec, Damir Bakić, Iskra Mandarić, Đuro Capor, Urša Raukar, Vilim Matula, Dario Juričan, Mima Simić, Ivo Špigel, Tomislav Tomašević and others.[12]

2019 EU elections

The parties We can!, New Left, and Sustainable Development of Croatia formed a coalition on 28 March 2019 for the 2019 European Parliament election,[13] where they were expected to win one seat.[14] They also stated their support for the Green New Deal that is advocated by the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), and were subsequently supported by Yanis Varoufakis.[14][15][16] In the end, the Možemo-led coalition received 1.79% of the popular vote and 19,313 votes in total.[17][18]

2020 parliamentary elections

All seven MPs of the Green-Left Coalition

Former SDP member and later independent parliamentarian Bojan Glavašević joined the coalition for the 2020 parliamentary elections as the first independent candidate.[19] Mile Kekin, the frontman of the punk rock band Hladno pivo and his wife joined the party during this period,[20] and he later authored the song that was used for the party campaigns.[21] Jane Fonda also expressed support for them in the election.[22] During this election, their popularity in Zagreb rose up.[23]

According to the results, the coalition won around 7% of votes and 7 seats in the parliament.[24] These seats were taken by Tomislav Tomašević, Sandra Benčić, Damir Bakić, Vilim Matula, Rada Borić, Katarina Peović, and Bojan Glavašević.[25] In Dubrovnik, they managed to win 9% of the popular vote.[26]

2021 Zagreb local elections

In the Zagreb elections they managed to win 40% of the popular vote and 23 seats in the City Assembly.[7][27]

Party program

The party designates itself as "a wide and progressive new political platform that aims to gather voters ranging from radical left, through green, to social democracy".[28] The developmental models proposed models seek to reduce precarious forms of work, strengthen economic democracy, and to foster trade unions, as well as the legal rights of workers in general.[29][11]

Electoral performance

Parliament of Croatia

Year Popular vote
(coalition)
 % of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Coalition Government
2020 116,480 6.99%
4 / 151
New Green–Left opposition

European Parliament

Year Popular vote
(coalition)
% of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Coalition Affiliation(s)
2019 19,313 1.79%
0 / 12
New Green-Left GUE–NGL

Zagreb Assembly

Year Popular vote
(coalition)
% of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Coalition Government
2021 130,850 40.83%
19 / 47
Increase 16 Green-Left Government

See also

References

  1. "Izvješće o obavljenoj financijskoj reviziji - Možemo! — politička platforma za 2021" (PDF). State Audit Office (in Croatian). 24 September 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  2. Tanner, Marcus (19 May 2021). "In Electing a Leftist Mayor, Croatia Follows European Trends". BIRN.
  3. "Tomašević in strong lead in Zagreb mayoral election with green left platform". balkangreenenergynews.com. Balkan Green Energy News. 17 May 2021.
  4. Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Croatia". parties-and-elections.eu. Parties and Elections in Europe.
  5. Gužvica, Stefan (12 April 2021). "Možemo li?" (in Serbo-Croatian). Bilten. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  6. "Croatia's Ruling Party Eyes Big Win in Local Polls, but not Zagreb". balkaninsight.com. BIRN. 14 May 2021.
  7. "Jutarnji list - Kakva dominacija Možemo!: Nedostaje im samo jedan mandat za apsolutnu većinu u Skupštini". 16 May 2021.
  8. "Nova stranka Možemo! poručuje: Ljevica u Hrvatskoj se ne mrvi, ona se upravo budi". tportal.hr.
  9. "Možemo!, politička platforma koju čine brojni profesori, umjetnici i aktivisti, upravo je postala stranka". Telegram.hr. February 10, 2019.
  10. "European Parliament Elections – What do parties in Croatia say about integration?". European Web Site on Integration. 13 June 2019.
  11. "We Can – New Leftist Political Party Founded in Croatia". www.total-croatia-news.com. 11 February 2019.
  12. "Priopćenje za medije - Možemo! - politička platforma". February 3, 2019.
  13. "POLITIČKA PLATFORMA MOŽEMO!, NOVA LJEVICA I ORAH ZAJEDNO IZLAZE NA EU IZBORE 'Očekujemo jedan mandat' - Jutarnji List". www.jutarnji.hr. March 28, 2019.
  14. "Varoufakis Supports Croatia's We Can! Platform in European Election". www.total-croatia-news.com. 20 May 2019.
  15. "Politička platforma Možemo! podržava "Zeleni New Deal" za Europu". H-Alter - Udruga za medijsku kulturu.
  16. "Croatian EU Election Hopefuls Tout International Backers". May 15, 2019.
  17. "National results Croatia | 2019 Election results | 2019 European election results | European Parliament". europarl.europa.eu.
  18. Henjak, Andrija (June 1, 2019). "Croatia: Towards Further Fragmentation of the Party System".
  19. "Glavašević na listi lijevo-zelene koalicije". www.hina.hr. 5 June 2020.
  20. Teleskop (2020-06-09). "Ivana Kekin je SDP opisala kao stranku s krivim imenom i prezimenom: Je li ona nagovorila supruga Milu da se "baci" u politiku?". Teleskop (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  21. "Mile Kekin - Happy people (Croatian:Sretni ljudi) video for party campaign". YouTube.
  22. Vijesti.hr (29 June 2020). "Jane Fonda podržala Radu Borić i Možemo!: 'Naprijed Rada! Glasajte za listu broj 3!'". Vijesti.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  23. "Što se zbiva u pozadini korone i Škorinih ekscesa? Nagli rast novih opcija na ljevici i centru". Telegram.hr (in Croatian). 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  24. "Izbori 2020: DIP objavio tko je dobio mandate". www.hina.hr. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  25. "The future of the Croatian left: Mozemo!". Index.hr. 6 July 2020.
  26. platforma, Možemo! politička (2020-07-06). "Ulazimo u Sabor sa 7 mandata! - Možemo! - politička platforma". Možemo! -- politička platforma (in Croatian). Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  27. "Jutarnji list - Zadnji dan predaje lista: Istražili smo koliko potpisa su prikupili kandidati u 4 najveća grada". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  28. "PREDSTAVLJENA NOVA POLITIČKA PLATFORMA 'MOŽEMO!': 'Ne možemo gledati kako političke elite zemlju vode u propast'". February 3, 2019.
  29. "Početna - Možemo! - politička platforma". www.mozemo.hr.
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