Multi-party elections in Croatia, political crisis and organizing of the Serbian people

The collapse of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the formation of new political parties and movements, and the overall change in circumstances within a society in constant crisis led to the first multi-party elections since World War II in the then-Yugoslav socialist republics.

The first multi-party elections in Croatia were held on April 22–23 and May 6–7, 1990. The absolute winner was the radical nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), founded on June 17, 1989, and led by Franjo Tuđman, which received over 1,200,000 votes (41.93%) and won 205 out of 356 seats in the Parliament of the SR of Croatia.

The Croatian communists, who mostly ran under the list of the League of Communists of Croatia – Party of Democratic Change (SKH–SDP), won 73 seats. The Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), founded on February 17, 1990, and led by the Šibenik-based neuropsychiatrist and SANU academician Jovan Rašković, secured five parliamentary seats, while winning local elections in Donji Lapac, Gračac, and Knin. In other areas with a Serbian majority, the most votes went to the SKH–SDP, which brought an additional 24 Serbs into the Parliament of the SR of Croatia on its list.

The Beginnings of Territorial Organization and the Struggle of the Serbian People for Their Rights

At an SDS session held in Knin on May 21, 1990, a decision was made for the Knin Municipal Assembly to withdraw from the Association of Municipalities of Dalmatia and initiate the process of forming the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika. The new association was to be formed by the municipalities of Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac, Gračac, Donji Lapac, and Titova Korenica, with the possibility left open for other municipalities from Kordun, Banija, and Slavonia to join.

The decision to establish and constitute the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika, with its headquarters in Knin, was officially adopted at a session of the Knin Municipal Assembly on June 27, 1990.

While Knin was becoming a gathering point and the informal leader of Serbs in Croatia, the new authorities in Zagreb were making moves with far-reaching consequences. On July 25, 1990, the Parliament of the SR of Croatia adopted constitutional amendments that removed the adjective "socialist" from the republic's name and altered the state symbols (the flag and coat of arms). For the Serbs, the increasingly frequent occurrences and blatant public rehabilitations of symbols from the World War II era and the Genocide against Serbs in the NDH were particularly alarming.

On the same day the Parliament was adopting the constitutional amendments, a great Serbian assembly was held in Srb (near Donji Lapac) as a specific response to Zagreb's actions. The constituent session of the Serbian National Council, at which Milan Babić was elected president, was held in Knin on July 31, 1990.

The Plebiscite and the Raising of Barricades

In August 1990, the first serious incidents occurred on the territory of Croatia at the time. While the Serbian National Council decided on August 16 to call a plebiscite on autonomy to be held on August 19, the Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) sent police officers to several Serbian municipalities in Northern Dalmatia and Lika on August 17 to seize weapons from the reserve militia units and prevent the preparation and execution of the first Serbian plebiscite.

The Serbs responded by erecting barricades on access roads. Milan Babić, President of the Knin Municipal Assembly, declared a state of war due to frequent Croatian attacks on the Serbian people and the introduction of state terror. Despite the tense situation, the Serbian plebiscite on autonomy was held from August 19 to 20, resulting in 756,549 votes "for," while 172 were "against" and 60 ballots were invalid.

The Removal of Constituent Status – A Path into the Unknown

According to the 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, Croatia was defined as the "national state of the Croatian people, the state of the Serbian people in Croatia, and the state of the nationalities living within it." Conversely, according to the draft of the new constitution, the Republic of Croatia was "established" as the "national state of the Croatian people and the state of members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs, Muslims, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Hungarians, Jews, and others." Serbian political representatives warned that the Serbian people in Croatia were thus stripped of their constituent status and other fundamental rights.

Despite the dissatisfaction among the Serbian people in Croatia and the actions taken by Knin, the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia was adopted as planned at a session of the Parliament on December 22, 1990. Due to its proximity to the Roman Catholic Christmas, this constitution was later referred to as the "Christmas Constitution."

Establishment of the SAO Krajina

In the weeks following the adoption of the new constitution, the authorities in Zagreb took further steps toward secession and independence. Simultaneously, Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia was also underway. While final preparations for the new constitution were being made in Zagreb, Serbs worked on organizing territorial autonomy.

The Statute of the Serbian Autonomous Province (SAO) of Krajina was adopted at a session in Knin on December 19, 1990, and was subsequently sent for approval to the member municipalities of the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika to formally enter into force.

The Statute of the SAO Krajina was adopted on December 20, 1990, by the municipalities of Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac, Gračac, Donji Lapac, Titova Korenica, and Vojnić, followed by Dvor on December 21. Because the Statute was adopted by eight municipalities, the Serbian National Council and the Provisional Presidency of the Assembly of the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika officially proclaimed the establishment of the Serbian Autonomous Province of Krajina at a joint ceremonial session in Knin on December 21, 1990.

Following the formal proclamation, the Serbian flag—the official flag of the SAO Krajina—was hoisted on the Knin fortress. On February 28, the Serbian National Council and the Executive Council of the SAO Krajina adopted the Resolution on the Disassociation of the Republic of Croatia and the SAO Krajina.