Ivica Račan (pronounced [îʋit͡sa rât͡ʃan]; 24 February 1944 – 29 April 2007) was a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2000 to 2003, heading two centre-left coalition governments.

Račan was born on 24 February 1944 in Ebersbach, Nazi Germany, where his mother Marija Draženović was interned in a labor camp during World War II.

[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.

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 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.

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

[5] 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.

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.

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.

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.

The incident was calmed down when Račan made a deal with Carla Del Ponte which assured that Norac would be prosecuted in Croatia.

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.

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.

While viewed as indecisive as prime minister, he proved to be very skilful in maintaining SDP party leadership for over fifteen years.

I am proud of the social democratic values – morals, work, honesty, tolerance – that we have forever engraved into the political life of our country.

Find a new strength at the election convention for I am sure that it exists in SDP.On the morning of 12 April 2007, his condition was described as "critical" due to complications which occurred after he had a couple of surgical procedures to remove the cancer in his right shoulder.

A separate commemoration was organized by SDP at the Lisinski Concert Hall, which was attended by the president, prime minister, a host of other dignitaries and many party members.

Throughout the three months of Račan's illness, the Croatian media regularly reported on his status due to the huge public interest.

Račan himself made no public appearances after the day he announced his illness, but the media was regularly informed through SDP's spokespeople.

This was a situation previously unknown in Croatia, particularly in comparison to the death of the late President Tuđman, when the details of his illness had been well guarded.