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Zagreb - Thirty-one years ago the Republic of Croatia got its first Constitution, which was adopted on 21 December and was officially promulgated on the day after that, that is on 22 January 1990, and became known as the Christmas Constitution since its promulgation happened a few days before Christmas.
The decision to promulgate the Constitution was passed at a plenary session of the first Croatian Parliament (Hrvatski sabor) on 22 December 1990. At the time the legislature consisted of three chambers: a Social-Political Council, the Council of Associated Labour, and the Council of Municipalities.
That was the first democratic Croatian Constitution which paved the way for Croatia's efforts to sever all state and legal ties with the former the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, (SFRY) and to establish an independent and sovereign state.
The Christmas Constitution defines Croatia as a single and indivisible democratic and social state with a modern political system.
In July 1990, the presidency of the Republic of Croatia decided to propose drawing up a new Constitution which would reflect the will of the people expressed in the first democratic elections.
The guidelines for the new Constitution were proposed by President Franjo Tuđman, the then first Parliament Speaker Žarko Domljan said addressing the Sabor on 21 December ahead of the adoption of the document.
The task force working on drawing up the Constitution consisted of 229 people from all walks of life and 152 of them were actively involved in preparing the Constitution, President Tuđman said in his speech on the occasion of the promulgation of the Constitution on 22 December 1990.
"Krk Draft"
Last year, addressing a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Christmas Constitution, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković recalled that the broader public is not aware that the blueprint of the first Croatian Constitution is known as the "Krk Draft" since it had intensively been prepared on the island of Krk during August 1990.
That blueprint was drawn up by a team of parliamentary experts with Vladimir Seks at the helm. Apart from Šeks, also experts Smiljko Sokol, Krunislav Olujić and Ljubomir Valković were engaged in that job.
Based on the information we have now, more than 70% of the Krk Draft was incorporated into the final version of the Christmas Constitution, said Jandroković last year.