Krešimir Zubak

Krešimir Zubak
Zubak in 1997
1stCroat Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 5 October 1996 – 15 November 1998
Preceded by	Stjepan Kljuić Ivo Komšić (as members of the Presidency of theRepublic of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Succeeded by	Ante Jelavić
1stPresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 31 May 1994 – 18 March 1997
Prime Minister	Haris Silajdžić Izudin Kapetanović
Vice President	Ejup Ganić
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Vladimir Šoljić
2nd President ofHerzeg-Bosnia
In office 4 April 1994 – 14 August 1996
Prime Minister	Jadranko Prlić Pero Marković
Vice President	Dario Kordić
Preceded by	Mate Boban
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Ministerial offices Minister of Human Rights and Refugees In office 22 February 2001 – 23 December 2002 Prime Minister Božidar Matić Zlatko Lagumdžija Dragan Mikerević Preceded by Martin Raguž Succeeded by Mirsad Kebo
Personal details
Born	(1947-01-25)25 January 1947 Doboj,SR Bosnia and Herzegovina,SFR Yugoslavia
Political party	New Croatian Initiative(1998−2007)
Other political affiliations	Croatian Democratic Union(1992−1998)
Alma mater	University of Sarajevo(LL.B.)
Awards	Grand Order of Queen Jelena

Krešimir Zubak(Croatian pronunciation:[krěʃimirzûbaːk];born 25 January 1947) is aBosnian Croatpolitician who served as the1stCroat member of thePresidency of Bosnia and Herzegovinafrom 1996 to 1998. At the beginning of theBosnian Warin 1992, he joined theCroatian Democratic Union(HDZ BiH).

AfterMate Bobanleft the position of president of theCroatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia,Zubak succeeded him. Under Zubak, theCroatian Defence CouncilandArmy of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovinaestablished peaceful relations and theWashington agreementwas signed. He later served as the inauguralPresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovinaand was later elected to the Bosnian Presidency. He also served asMinister of Human Rights and Refugeesfrom 2001 to 2002.

Zubak left the HDZ BiH in 1998 and founded theNew Croatian Initiative.

Early life and career

Krešimir Zubak was born inDoboj.He graduated from theFaculty of LawinSarajevoin 1970. For the next few years, he worked as a lawyer in a construction company, after which he began a judicial career. Zubak started his judicial career as Deputy Public Prosecutor in Doboj, after which he became President of the District Court in Doboj. From 1980 to 1984, he was Deputy Minister of Justice in theSocialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.After that, Zubak was president of the High Court in Doboj until 1992.

Bosnian War

Main article:Bosnian War

Zubak, alongside U.S. PresidentBill Clinton,overseeing the signing of theWashington AgreementbetweenAlija IzetbegovićandFranjo Tuđmanin 1994

Before the start of theBosnian War,Zubak was re-employed at the Ministry of Justice, but returned home afterSerb forcesattacked the village ofUsora.He was severely wounded during an unsuccessful operation to liberate Doboj, that is, to occupy the strategically important Putnik Hill. The bullet went between his chest and armpits and erupted outside in the lower spine. Because of that wound, Zubak became 40% disabled, and underwent surgery at a local hospital inTešanj.His family was soon expelled from Doboj, and he went into exile inVodicenearŠibenik.Zubak soon went toHerzegovina,while the rest of his family, his wife and two sons, went toZagreb,where his sons finished law.

After arriving to Herzegovina, he was appointed Minister of Justice in the Government ofHerzeg-Bosnia.He is a signatorie of theWashington Agreement,signed on 18 March 1994. After then president of Herzeg-Bosnia,Mate Boban,resigned as president inLivnoon 4 April 1994, Zubak was elected as his successor. The following month, on 31 May, he was elected the firstPresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovinaat the Constituent Assembly of thePresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zubak participated in the negotiations on the conclusion of theDayton Agreement.He finally signed the agreement on 14 December 1995.

After the war

Zubak signed theSaint PetersburgAgreement withEjup Ganićin Saint Petersburg, which he considered a continuation of the previously signed Dayton Agreement. In it, Zubak and Ganić agreed on the gradual exclusion of the institutions of Herzeg-Bosnia and theRepublic of Bosnia and Herzegovina,which was supposed to guarantee the federal character of the Federation. The agreement was criticized byHaris Silajdžićand in the end, it failed.

At thegeneral electionheld in September 1996, Zubak was theCroatian Democratic Union(HDZ BiH) candidate for theCroat seatin thePresidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.He managed to win the election with 330,477 (88.7%) votes. His strongest opponent wasIvo Komšić,candidate of the Joint List.

Zubak left the HDZ BiH in 1998 and founded theNew Croatian Initiative(NHI).He welcomedBarry's amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Provisional Election Commission,which allowed members of theFederal House of Peoples,regardless of their nationality, to be nominated and elected by all members of theCantonalAssemblies. This made it possible for Croat envoys to be elected by Bosniaks.With his new party, Zubak joined the ruling civic-unitary coalition of theAlliance for Change,led by theSocial Democratic Party(SDP BiH), where he was appointedMinister of Human Rights and Refugeeson 22 February 2001.The coalition was ousted from power after the2002 general election.Zubak's NHI did not achieve significant political success, and after a significant weakening, it merged with theCroatian Peasant Party(HSS BiH) to form theHSS-NHIin October 2007. Even the HSS-NHI, later renamed the Croatian National Alliance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, failed to make any significant political success.

After thegeneral electionheld in October 2010, Zubak supported the creation of the so-called platformGovernment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovinawithout the presence of Croat legitimate representatives. When theCroatian Democratic Union 1990(HDZ 1990) refused to join such a government, which included its coalition partner, theCroatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina(HSP BiH), Zubak claimed that HDZ 1990 "is commiting political suicide".Later, his party, the Croatian National Alliance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was merged in to HDZ 1990, and the party leadership was co-opted into the HDZ 1990 leadership, while Zubak himself withdrew from further political life.

He is married and has two sons, also lawyers.

Honours and decorations

International

Award or decoration		Country	Awarded by	Year	Place
	Grand Order of Queen Jelena	Croatia	Franjo Tuđman	1995	Zagreb

External links

• Report feature(in Croatian)