Early career (1961–1989)

Račan entered politics in the Socialist Republic of Croatia in 1961 as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia (SKH), the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). He was president of the communist youth organization in the Slavonski Brod gymnasium.^[2] From 1963 to 1974 he worked for the Yugoslav institute of social research where he studied and researched the topic of Workers' self-management. In 1972, his professional political career began when he entered the central committee of the Croatian league of communists after 6 seats were made available because those 6 previous officials were involved in the 1971 Croatian Spring. He was a member of the SKH culture committee and the head ideology commissioner. From 1982 to 1986, he was director of the "Josip Broz Tito" political school in Kumrovec. In 1986 he was elected to represent SKH in the presidency of the Yugoslav league of communists in Belgrade.^[3]

In the late 1980s during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution, tensions grew between pro-Milošević and anti-Milošević supporters so in autumn 1989 the Croatian communists elected Račan as the president of SKH because he defended the rights of republic autonomies which the Milošević establishment wanted to abolish. Račan led the Croatian delegation at the 14th SKJ party congress, held in late January 1990. The congress was dominated by Slobodan Milošević's supporters and the Slovenian and Croatian delegations were continuously outvoted in trying to reach a compromise on the political future of Yugoslavia, their proposals of various political reforms and amendments to the Constitution, aiming primarily on decentralizing the federation, all being rejected. Finally the Slovenian delegation declared that they were abandoning the congress. Milošević tried to persuade Račan to stay, but Račan replied that a communist party without the Slovenes was unacceptable. Without the Croatian delegation, it was impossible to reconvene the congress. (Adam Le Bor: Milošević)

Opposition years (1990–1999)

Under his leadership, SKH re-branded themselves as the Party of Democratic Reform (Croatian: Stranka demokratskih promjena or SDP) in February 1990 and then ran in the 1990 election as SKH-SDP, winning 26 percent of the votes and coming in second behind the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). During the 1990 election campaign, Račan stirred some controversy when he referred to HDZ as a "party of dangerous intentions".

Although his party had lost the election, they remained the second largest party in the Sabor, and Račan thus continued his political career as the first Leader of the Opposition in the history of modern Croatia. SKH-SDP, however, quickly became a shadow of its former self – a majority of its membership, including the highest-ranking officials, defected to HDZ, while the breakup of Yugoslavia, the rebellion of ethnic Serbs and the ensuing war which broke out in 1991 further radicalised the Croatian public. In such circumstances, Račan was more concerned with the survival of his party rather than challenging Franjo Tuđman's rule, even if it meant tolerating some of Tuđman's more controversial policies, like the nationalisation of workers' owned enterprises and privatisation.

In such circumstances, Račan gave up the opposition leader title to Dražen Budiša of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS). SDP then barely managed to pass the threshold in the following 1992 general election, but it did succeed in establishing itself as the strongest social democratic option. In 1994, SDP incorporated the minor Social Democrats of Croatia (SDH) party and soon became one of the two main alternatives to Tuđman, along with HSLS. The same year, Miko Tripalo, who was chairman of the Social Democratic Action of Croatia (SDAH) tried to force an all-left party coalition on the Croatian political spectrum but Račan and the SDP head committee rejected the idea and thus later becoming the only major left party.^[4]

Following the end of the war of independence in 1995, Croatian voters were becoming more concerned with social issues, and in such circumstances, SDP gradually began to consolidate support at the expense of other opposition parties, most notably the social liberals, HSLS. This became evident in the 1995 general elections. SDP finished second in the 1997 Croatian presidential election which gave them the status of the main opposition party.

Prime Minister (2000–2003)

In August 1998, Račan and Budiša signed a coalition agreement and later won the 2000 elections, dislodging HDZ from power after a decade.

Following the election, Račan became Prime Minister of Croatia and formed a six-party centre-left government with ministers from SDP, HSLS, the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Liberal Party (LS), the Croatian People's Party (HNS), and the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS).^[5]

Račan alongside European Commission President Romano Prodi, 14 February 2000

Račan, like the newly elected president Stjepan Mesić, was initially hailed as a new, reformist leader who would symbolize the break with Croatia's authoritarian and nationalist past. While a democrat, Račan was, however, inefficient in running a government comprising six parties, the first coalition in modern Croatian history. His style of governance, sometimes described by the phrase "Odlučno možda"^[6][7] ("Decisively maybe" in English), plagued his government with factional struggles. Račan had to adopt a compromise-making attitude which limited the government's ability to commit fully to what should be done.

Račan faced problems when his main coalition partner Budiša lost in the 2000 Croatian presidential election. This made Budiša lose any significant role in the government so he became frustrated and started making trouble. This led to the break-up with Budiša who took a more nationalist approach to dealing with the issues of ICTY indictments against Croatian Army generals. This rift began to affect Račan's government on other issues. IDS was the first to leave the coalition in June 2001.

Račan formally resigned on 5 July 2002, after their coalition partner HSLS obstructed the ratification of a vital agreement with Slovenia on the status of the co-owned Krško Nuclear Power Plant. This led to a party split which saw the main faction of HSLS leave the ruling coalition and a dissenting faction which formed a new party called LIBRA which opted to stay in the government. This enabled Račan to form a slightly modified government that would remain in power until the next elections in 2003.^[8]

Croatian President Stjepan Mesić (left), U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Račan at the Pentagon, 8 August 2000

Račan's best achievements were in foreign policy. He successfully brought Croatia out of the semi-isolation of the Tuđman era and set the country on the road towards membership of the European Union. During his term as prime minister, the Constitution of Croatia was amended, turning Croatia from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary democracy and granting more power to the parliament and prime minister. Among other things, Račan opened up the government's workings to the public with an "open-doors day" at the government and scheduled regular press conferences, which was in sharp contrast to previous governments who for the most part shunned media attention. Račan visited Bleiburg, Austria, in 2002 and attended the annual commemoration of the Bleiburg repatriations.^[9]

During his term in office, Croatia also changed economically. The opening to the West brought fresh inflows of capital which helped jump-start Croatia's GDP growth, amounting to around 5% per year during the years of the Račan government – high compared to previous years. The government also undertook a series of reforms in the public and government sectors and started large building projects, such as an affordable housing program and the construction of the A1 highway connecting the two biggest cities Zagreb and Split, which had been long-desired due to its importance for tourism. During this period, Račan also began to heal the rifts between Croatia and its neighbour Serbia and other former Yugoslav republics.

He also endured much criticism during that time when it came to the ICTY investigations. On the right-wing political spectrum he was attacked as being non-patriotic and a traitor to the national interests while on the liberal-left spectrum he was accused of not doing enough in fighting right-wing extremism and doing little on ensuring de-Tudjmanisation. In February 2001, he faced a massive public uproar when the indictment from ICTY came for Mirko Norac, who at the time was a runaway. The incident came to a peak when 100,000 people came to protest on the Split Riva against the government and a fear of a Coup d'état was at stake. The incident was calmed down when Račan made a deal with Carla Del Ponte which assured that Norac would be prosecuted in Croatia.^[10]

Račan with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, 7 June 2002

In July 2001, came the indictment for Ante Gotovina but Račan delayed accepting it because he felt that some parts of the indictment were wrongly written and negative about the Croatian War of Independence. Since Gotovina was not arrested or even under surveillance during that time, he made his escape to exile which lasted until his arrest in 2005. It was a heavy blow in the Croatian negotiations process with the EU.^[11] The last major ICTY scandal happened in September 2002 when the indictment for Janko Bobetko came. Bobetko at the time was in a bad health condition, so he refused to leave his home and surrounded himself with armed people. Račan was afraid that if Bobetko died during the transport to The Hague, it would cause a national riot with the right-wing population. Račan rejected the indictment and Croatia faced a risk of international isolation at that point. Račan persuaded Bobetko to leave his house and go to the hospital. The situation was tense until April 2003 when Bobetko died. After his death, the indictment was dropped and Croatia continued with the negotiations.^[12]

Račan was also criticized for his ratification agreement with Slovenia over the Gulf of Piran in 2001. Račan attempted to improve relations with Slovenia which were needed for the EU negotiations so he made an agreement which gave Slovenia 80% of the gulf territory and an exit in international waters but Croatia would still have the border with Italy. The agreement was heavily attacked by the public and the parliament speaker at the time, Zlatko Tomčić, claims that he did not know how much territory was given to Slovenia until the new gulf map came out in the newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija. The agreement was later rejected and not signed by the prime minister so it never came to a realization.^[2][13]

Back in opposition (2003–2006)

Račan's centre-left coalition lost its majority in parliament following the November 2003 election. SDP did not create a big coalition like in the previous elections which cost them the votes. HSS decided to go alone and join the party which won the elections. Those tactics proved to be devastating for them. The coalition with HNS was rejected by Račan for reasons unknown which also proved to be a mistake. Račan conceded the defeat soon after election results were announced. His former coalition partners attacked him for conceding victory so early because they thought that they could try to enforce another great coalition but Račan said that it was unlikely to happen and even if it would happen, there would be no stability in such a great gathering. He officially ceased to be prime minister on 23 December 2003 when the Croatian Parliament approved his successor, Ivo Sanader of the HDZ, to take up that post.^[2]

SDP remained the most popular opposition party in opinion polls, and Ivica Račan was viewed as the leader of Croatian opposition. While viewed as indecisive as prime minister, he proved to be very skilful in maintaining SDP party leadership for over fifteen years. In 2006, Račan publicly stated that he had no intention of running for a new term as party president.