CROATIAN POPULAR PARTY AND THE SECOND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN THE MONARCHY OF SERBS, CROATS AND SLOVENES (1923)

Autor je u članku rekonstruirao, na osnovi literature i dostupnih izvora (suvremeni stranački tisak), nastojanja vodstva HPS-a da ostvari, za sebe poželjnu, izbornu suradnju s drugim hrvatskim političkim strankama, odnosno grupacijama (I. HB; HTS), na II. parlamentarnim izborima u Kraljevini SHS održanima 1923. godine. Izborni je poraz ovu do tada parlamentarnu stranku gurnuo na margine političkog života tadašnje države.Croatian Popular Party (CPP) was an integral part of the unique Croatian Catholic Movement (CCM), led by the Croatian Catholic Seniority (CCS). Active at the Croatian political scene at that time, the leadership of CPP was ready to make an electoral agreement with other Croatian political parties and groups (Croatian Labourer Party; The First Croatian Block) at the parliamentary elections in March 1923. However, this was never realized, except in the case of common appearance in Bosnia with relatively minor group of Dr. Ivica Pavičić (the list of »Unified Croats«). The results of the elections were disastrous for CPP. Besides having lost quite a number of electors – more than 25000 - the Party did not succeed to conquer even one seat in the Parliament of the Monarchy of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Croatian electoral body, at this elections, was not prepared to »reward« with its ballots previous parliamentary work of CPP, but voted unanimously for the Croatian Republican Peasant Party, whose candidates, except in Croatia and Slavonia, were put up for the first time in Dalmatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. It was more than obvious that a large number of followers of CPP went over to Radić. Finding themselves out of the Parliament, the party leaders said that they would »watch carefully« all Radić\u27s moves, because he, along -with the election victory, took over full responsibility for further Croatian policy. Croatian Catholic Seniority, as »ideological and organizational centre« of the whole CCM, understood the failure of the »political branch« as a proof of the existence of a serious crisis in its own lines. The seniors thought that they would overcome the crises most easily by strengthening the internal discipline of the senior organization itself. Reorganized Seniority was supposed to get back the lost factional-political positions of CPP and thus contribute to the strengthening of the whole Croatian Catholic Seniority