• Born on February 24, 1944 in Ebersbach, Germany. • Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, in 1970. • After decades as a member of the Croatian Communist Party (SKH) and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CK SKJ), he was elected president of the Yugoslav party in 1989. • As head of the Croatian delegation to a party congress held in Belgrade in 1990, he led his team out of the congress after confronting then-Yugsolav leader Slobodan Milosevic. • Later that year, he organised the first democratic multi-party elections in Croatia and supervised the peaceful transition of power to the winning HDZ. • Elected to the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament in 1990, where as leader of the democratic wing of the former SKH reforms the party into the Party of Democratic Change (1990) and, in 1991 into the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP). • Re-elected in 1992 and 1995 to the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament. • In coalition with the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) gains the majority of seats in the House of Representatives in the January 2000 election and is appointed prime minister. • In July 2001 he agreed to United Nations demands to hand over suspected war criminals to the International War Crimes Tribunal, prompting four ministers to resign in protest.