 After a decade of destructive and clientelistic politics, they were faced with the prospect of losing the elections for the first time in modern history.There was a fear at the time that Franjo Tuđman would not allow the new liberal-left coalition to seize power if they won, a view which was shared by Ivica Račan.After Franjo Tuđman passed away in December 1999, the political stage was opened to change.