Anto Đapić is a retired Croatian right-wing politician and the former president of the Croatian Party of Rights.
Background
Đapić was born in Čaprazlije, Livno municipality, Social Research Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina). His father and uncles chose to go to West Germany on permanent work instead of living in Yugoslavia, but Anto, his mother and brother lived in Osijek since 1962. Đapić lost his mother in a car crash when he was a teenager, so he had to do manual labour while studying law at Osijek University.
Career
He served as a Representative in the Croatian Parliament, a post he was elected to at the 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2007 elections. The Đapić family had a history of supporting the old Croatian Party of Rights, and later the Ustaše regime. Đapić considers Osijek to be his hometown.
Đapić obtained a law degree in 1989.
In 1989, Đapić first joined Franjo Tuđman"s Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). In 1991, he joined the Croatian Party of Right (Hungarian Socialist Party), which was renewed year earlier.
After the assassination of Ante Paradžik, he was named party"s Vice President. Đapić was also for short period of time a commander of voluntary military units called HOS (Hrvatske Obrambene Snage - Croatian Defence Forces), which were organized by Croatian Party of Right.
They wore black uniforms like the Black Legion of the Ustaše army, and fought in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Later HOS was blended with Croatian Army (in Croatia) and Croatian Defense Council (in Bosnia). In 1993, Đapić was named president of Hungarian Socialist Party. Previous president Dobroslav Paraga claimed Đapić was elected illegally, and he later formed the new party Croatian Party of Right 1861, which has failed at each parliamentary election since 1993. Đapić was less critical of President Tuđman and HDZ then Paraga, and he was considered to be their satellite.
With war being over the party took more and more criticism for its neo-ustaša views.
However, Hungarian Socialist Party led by Đapić maintained small but solid support among the voters. In 2000, this time in coalition with Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU), Hungarian Socialist Party kept four Parliament seats.
Đapić led a presidential campaign the same year, finishing a distant fifth. Since then, Đapić and his party have endeavoured to change perception among voters.
Hungarian Socialist Party continues to wholly oppose the existence of the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, holds eurosceptic views and is socially very conservative.
Đapić likened the possible legal recognition of same-sex marriages to "Sodom and Gomorrah". In June 2005, Đapić became mayor of Osijek, but he lost this position in 2009. In late 2009, the Hungarian Socialist Party split yet again.
A new party, "Hrvatska stranka prava Doctor Ante Starčević", with Ruža Tomašić as party leader was formed.
The party"s leadership accused Đapić for the weakening of Hungarian Socialist Party"s standing in the Sabor. Đapić was replaced as the president of the party at the November 2009 convention by Daniel Srb.
In December 2011 Đapić announced his retirement from politics. Đapić is married with one daughter.
Politics
Political career
He was one of the party"s organizers in Osijek, but he left it after short time.