The Ninth Government of the Republic of Croatia () was the first of two Croatian Government cabinets led by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. It was announced on 23 December 2003 and its term ended on 12 January 2008. All but two cabinet members came from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, following their win in the 2003 parliamentary elections (with the exception of Dragan Primorac, who was formally a non-party minister at the time of his appointment, but later joined HDZ and Vesna Škare-Ožbolt who had been a member of HDZ in the 1990s but then joined the Democratic Centre, a small centre-right party which allied with HDZ after the 2003 elections).
Motions of confidence Vote on the confirmation of the 9th Government of the Republic of Croatia Ballot 23 December 2003 Absentees Required majority 77 Yes votes out of 152 votes(Absolute majority of the total number of Members of Parliament) Yes No Abstentions Sources:Zapisnik druge izvanredne sjednice Hrvatskoga sabora Sabor. (in Croatian)
Party breakdown Party breakdown of cabinet ministers (12 January 2008): Croatian Democratic Union 13 Independent 1
Changes from Cabinet of Ivica Račan II Since Račan's centre-left coalition was replaced by the centre-right HDZ government, all the ministers were newly appointed. Furthermore, some ministries were re-organised: Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare was dissolved; it was then merged into Ministry of Health (which then became Ministry of Health and Social Welfare) and Ministry of Economy. Ministry for Crafts, Small and Medium-sized entrepreneurship was also dissolved and merged with the Ministry of Economy, which then became Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship Ministry of Agriculture and Forest Management was renamed Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Water Management Ministry of Veterans' Affairs was renamed and expanded into Minister of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity Ministry of Tourism was dissolved and merged with Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications to form the new Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Local Self-government was renamed simply Ministry of Justice Minister of Public Works, Construction and Reconstruction was dissolved, and merged with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning to form the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education and Sports were merged into Ministry of Science, Education and Sports
These changes had brought down the number of ministries from 19 in Račan's cabinet to 14 under PM Sanader. Also, the ministries of European Integration (headed by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović) and Foreign Affairs (headed by Miomir Žužul) were later merged in February 2005, which further reduced the total number of government ministries to just 13.
List of ministers and portfolios Some periods in the table extend after before 12 January 2008 because the minister continued to hold the post in the following Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II and Cabinet of Jadranka Kosor. The cabinet had two Deputy Prime Ministers: Jadranka Kosor and Andrija Hebrang, who both also served as ministers of their respective portfolios. When Hebrang resigned from both his posts as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Social Welfare in February 2005, he was replaced by Damir Polančec (as Deputy Prime Minister) and Neven Ljubičić (who took over his portfolio).
MinisterPartyPortfolioTerm startTerm endIvo SanaderHDZPrime Minister23 December 20036 July 2009Damir PolančecHDZDeputy Prime Minister17 February 200512 January 2008Petar ČobankovićHDZAgriculture, Forestry and Water Management23 December 200312 January 2008Božo BiškupićHDZCulture23 December 200329 December 2010Berislav RončevićHDZDefence23 December 200312 January 2008Jadranka KosorHDZFamily, Veterans' Affairs and Inter-generational Solidarity23 December 20036 July 2009Ivan ŠukerHDZFinance23 December 200329 December 2010Miomir ŽužulHDZForeign Affairs17 February 200516 February 2005Kolinda Grabar-KitarovićHDZEuropean Integration23 December 200316 February 2005Foreign Affairs and European Integration17 February 200512 January 2008Andrija HebrangHDZHealth and Social Welfare23 December 200315 February 2005Neven LjubičićHDZ16 February 200512 January 2008Božidar KalmetaHDZSea, Tourism, Transport and Development23 December 200323 December 2011Vesna Škare-OžboltDCJustice23 December 20039 February 2006Ana LovrinHDZ10 February 200610 October 2008Marina Matulović-DropulićHDZEnvironment Protection, Spatial Planning and Construction23 December 200329 December 2010Dragan PrimoracNon-partyScience, Education and Sports23 December 20032 July 2009Marijan MlinarićHDZInterior23 December 200312 July 2005Ivica KirinHDZ12 July 20052 January 2008Branko VukelićHDZEconomy, Labour and Entrepreneurship23 December 200312 January 2008
References
External links Official website of the Croatian Government Chronology of Croatian cabinets at Hidra.hr