In his early days Paraga advocated the secession of Croatia from Yugoslavia which led to persecution by the Communist authorities.

When a multi-party system was established in Croatia, he initially joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Franjo Tuđman.

The HSP did enter the Croatian Parliament and Paraga came fourth among presidential candidates, but it was clear that the party was far from its target.

[citation needed] Another blow came in the form of high treason charges against Paraga and his associate Anto Đapić, who were stripped of their parliamentary immunity.

Those charges were ultimately dropped, but the most serious blow for Paraga came when Đapić turned against him and took over the leadership of the HSP at the 1993 party convention in Kutina.