Ivić Pašalić

Ivić Pašalić (born November 3, 1960 in Šuica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia) is a Croatian right-wing politician.

Pašalić was a physician in Zagreb before the arrival of democracy in Croatia. In 1990 he joined the Croatian Democratic Union ("HDZ") and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the party's general secretary. He also became a senior advisor to President Franjo Tudjman, taking charge of domestic policies. From those positions Pašalić was able to influence personnel policies in Croatia and brought public institutions in the country under direct control of HDZ. Pašalić was quite open about it, especially in the case of judiciary when he stated that "judiciary has a task of enforcing national policies".

Pašalić's privileged position within Tudjman's inner circle created envy and many enemies within HDZ. In the late 1990s, with Tudjman's health deteriorating and HDZ gradually being consumed by factional struggles, Pašalić became target of a media campaign linking him to Miroslav Kutle and other notorious figures of Croatian 1990s privatisation. Direct allegations against Pašalić were never proven, but his reputation was hurt in the process.

After Tudjman's death and the defeat of HDZ at the 2000 parliamentary elections, Pašalić became a rallying figure for all HDZ hardliners dissatisfied with the increasingly moderate course of the new HDZ leader, Ivo Sanader. In 2002 Pašalić formally challenged Sanader for party leadership, leading to one of the most dramatic party conventions in recent Croatian history. At first, Pašalić had the upper hand, but in the end a section of party hardliners including Branimir Glavaš opted for Sanader, which led to Pašalić's defeat.

After accusing Sanader of winning through illegal means, Pašalić formed his own party called Croatian Bloc ("HB"). The party was doomed from the moment it became likely that HDZ would win the 2003 parliamentary elections. Many of Sanader's bitter critics left HB in order re-join HDZ, while even the most hard-line nationalist voters preferred to vote HDZ rather than allow left-wing Social Democratic Party of Croatia to remain in power. As a result, HB failed to win a single seat.

During 2005 presidential elections Ivić Pašalić ran as the HB candidate, finishing seventh.