First Presidential elections under new 1990 Constitution of the republic of Croatia, held 1992 by popular vote. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Constitution was adopted in December 1990, but the elections could not be held due to escalating armed conflict between Croatian government and Krajina rebels, backed by Yugoslav federal army. Franjo Tuđman, who had been elected as Croatian President in May 1990 according to old Communist-era Constitution had assumed new constitutional duties in December 1990 until next elections. Coat of Arms of the Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska Krajina, RSK) was an internationally unrecognized Serbian republic in Croatia. ... The Yugoslav Peoples Army (Serbo-Croatian Jugoslavenska/Jugoslovenska narodna armija, JNA, Slovene Jugoslovanska ljudska armada) was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... Franjo TuÄ‘man (May 14, 1922 - December 10, 1999) was the first president of Croatia in the 1990s. ...

When the elections were called, Croatia was internationally recognised, but roughly one of third of its territory was occupied by Krajina forces, while Croatia itself was involved in war raging in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina. Few people, however, criticised the decision to call elections, because majority believed that newly independent country should have constitutionally elected government as quickly as possible. Bosnia and Herzegovina (also variously written Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bosnia-Hercegovina) is a mountainous country in the western Balkans. ...

Franjo Tuđman and his party entered campaign with great confidence, assuming that the Croatian would reward their role in achieving independence and international recognition. Tuđman's role in that process had been enhanced months before by continuous and not very subtle PR campaign in state-run media, often resembling personality cult in former Communist countries.

Despite that, at least three more candidates entered the race with similar levels of confidence. Savka Dabčević-Kučar tried to combine her image of moderate nationalist with the charisma of Croatian Spring leader, while her campaign - backed by lavish financial contributions of HNS wealthy supporters - revolved around incompetence of HDZ. Savka Dabčević-Kučar was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician. ... The Croatian Spring (Hrvatsko proljeće, also called masovni pokret or MASPOK, for mass movement) was a political movement from the early 1970s that called for greater rights for Croatia which was then part of Yugoslavia. ... The Croatian Peoples Party _ Liberal Democrats (Croatian Hrvatska narodna stranka _ Liberalni Demokrati; HNS) a liberal party in Croatia. ...

Dražen Budiša also tried to use his Croatian Spring charisma, as well as being much younger than Tuđman. He criticised Tuđman because of lowering Croatian democratic standards, as well as being too appeasing to Serbs and unwilling to end the occupation of Croatian territory and Bosnian War through radical military action. Dražen BudiÅ¡a (born July 25, 1948 in DrniÅ¡) is a Croatian politician who used to be leading opposition figure in the early 1990s. ... The Croatian Spring (Hrvatsko proljeće, also called masovni pokret or MASPOK, for mass movement) was a political movement from the early 1970s that called for greater rights for Croatia which was then part of Yugoslavia. ...

Dobroslav Paraga was even more radical, accusing Tuđman of autocratic tendencies and betraying Bosnian Muslims, who were supposed to be "Croatian natural allies" in the struggle against Serbs. Paraga hoped that his right-wing radicalism, underlined with use of black uniforms and Ustasha iconography by the members of his Croatian Party of Rights, would find fertile ground among many Croatian voters affected by war. The Ustaše (often spelled Ustashe in English; singular Ustaša or Ustasha) was a Croatian right-wing organisation put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers in 1941. ... The Croatian Party of Rights (Croatian Hrvatska Stranka Prava, HSP) is a right-wing political party in Croatia, the oldest in the country. ...

Other four candidates entered campaign without much hope of winning and their campaigns were intended merely to give some name recognition to their parties on parliamentary elections. The second free multi-party elections for Croatian Parliament were held on August 2nd 1992 in conjuction with 1992 Presidential elections of Croatia. ...

The campaign was very heated, with Paraga's rallies having large attendnace and Tuđman being publicly booed on couple on occasions. Because of that many observers believed that the election is going to be close, with none of the candidates receiving more than 50 %.

To the surprise of many, Tuđman easily passed 50 % tresshold and won in the first round.

Like parliamentary election, this one was also marred by vote fraud allegations. Basis for them was discovery of couple of thousands of ballots - marked for Dobroslav Paraga and Ivan Cesar - in Zagreb dumpsters. Dobroslav Paraga is Croatian politician. ... Ivan Cesar is a Croatian politician. ...

Total electors: 3,575,032 Voted: 2,677,764 (74.90%)

Invalid votes: 50,703 (1.89%)

Candidates:

1. Franjo Tuđman (Croatian Democratic Union - HDZ) - winner - 1,519,100 - 56.73%
2. Dražen Budiša (Croatian Social Liberal Party - HSLS) - 585,535 - 21.87%
3. Savka Dabčević-Kučar (Croatian People's Party - HNS) - 161,242 - 6.02%
4. Dobroslav Paraga (Croatian Party of Rights - HSP) - 144,695 - 5.40%
5. Silvije Degen (Socialist Party of Croatia - SSH) - 108,979 - 4.07%
6. Marko Veselica (Croatian Democratic Party - HDS) - 45,593 - 1.70%
7. Ivan Cesar (Croatian Christian Democratic Party - HKDS) - 43,134 - 1.61%
8. Antun Vujić (Social Democrats of Croatia - SDH) - 18,783 - 0.70%