Croatian Elections: Oldest candidate 95 years old

Croatia’s parliamentary elections take place in April

ZAGREB, April 4, 2024. (Hina) – Croatia’s parliamentary elections are around the corner and a parliamentary seat is attracting individuals from all age groups, according to data from the State Electoral Commission (DIP). 

DIP has revealed that the oldest candidate for parliamentary representative is 95 years of age, while the youngest is 18 years old. 

The oldest female candidate is 87, and the youngest is 18 and a half years old.

The oldest candidate was born on January 20, 2029, and is listed on the coalition of the Homeland Movement (Domovinski pokret) in the 1st electoral unit. 

The oldest female candidate, born on August 24, 1937, is listed on the Socialist Workers’ Party of Croatia ((Socijalistička radnička partija Hrvatske) in the 10th electoral unit.

The youngest female candidate for representative, born on October 12, 2005, is from the Determination and Justice party (Odlučnost i pravednost), and the youngest male candidate, born on January 8, 2006, is listed under Ivan Pernar’s party.

In all electoral lists for the April 17 parliamentary elections, there are a total of 2302 candidates, meaning there are 15.2 candidates per parliamentary seat.

Men are once again more represented than women, with a ratio of 58 to 42 percent.

Candidates for representatives are getting older

With each election cycle, candidates for parliamentary representatives are getting older, with an average age of 50.7 years in this election, marking the oldest age seen in the past four electoral cycles. In the 2015 elections, the average age was 44.5 years, then 47.4 years the following year, and 48.6 years in the 2020 elections.

As much as 90.6 percent of candidates are older than 30 years, with only 9.4 percent of them being younger than 30 years old.

For the elections in 10 electoral units in Croatia and the 11th electoral unit, where the Croatian diaspora votes, representing the entire world, there are 165 valid lists competing. Among them, 163 are from parties or coalitions, while only two are independent: Damir-Kristijan Rogina’s and Viktor Šimunić’s.

The number of valid or accepted lists is the lowest since the 2015 elections when there were 166 such lists. The following year saw 177 lists, and the record number of 192 lists was recorded in the pandemic-marked 2020 elections.