#newsonleo #croatia #history #politics #rip Josip "Joža" Manolić, former prime minister and one of Croatian politicians with the most colourful biography, has passed away at age 104. 1/
#newsonleo #croatia #history #politics #rip Josip "Joža" Manolić, former prime minister and one of Croatian politicians with the most colourful biography, has passed away at age 104. 1/
2/ Manolić's biography is often seen as the embodiment of turbulent and often contradictory trends in Croatian 20th Century politics.
3/ Born in 1920, in 1939, while Croatia had been part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, he joined Communist Party, which had been illegal at the time.
4/ In 1941 he joined Yugoslav Partisans, and, followed their victory at the end of WW2, became one of the high ranking officials of the new regime, working in security services.
5/ From 1970s, due to his support for Croatian Spring movement, he became dissident and in 1989 he was one of the founders of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), party that dominates Croatian politics to this day.
6/ As close associate of party's leader Franjo Tuđman, after first democratic election in 1990 and HDZ coming tp power, he became country's vice-president and served as prime minister in months before declaration of independence.
7/ During the war, he served as chief of Crisis Headquarters and Constitutional Order Protection Office, supervising country's security services.
8/ From 1993 onwards, he began to part ways with Tuđman, mainly over his policy towards Bosnia and rivalry with hardline right-wing nationalist faction led by defence minister Gojko Šušak.
9/ Appointed to mainly ceremonial function of House of Counties Speaker, he joined Stjepan Mesić, House of Representatives speaker, in 1994 attempt to deprive Tuđman and Šušak supporters of parliamentary majority.
10/ Attempt ultimately failed and Manolić and Mesić (who would become country's president in 2000) gathered dissident in new, short-lived party called Croatian Independent Democrats (HND).
11/ That party soon became marginalised and Manolić with it. From 2000 onwards he began to gradually retire from public life.
12/ His longetivity helped him find new life as inspiration of Internet memes on Croatian social media, making him sort of national icon.