Ivan Pernar (politician, born 1985)

Ivan Pernar stormed onto Croatia's political scene not as a polished insider, but as a brash activist determined to shake the system. A trained dentist, he channeled his energy into founding the Alliance for Change party, later renamed Human Shield, positioning himself as a voice against corruption and for direct democracy. His election to parliament in 2016 was a shock to the political class. Inside the chamber, he became known for unorthodox and often controversial stunts—live-streaming sessions, brandishing props, and delivering lengthy, filibuster-style speeches—that aimed to highlight what he saw as parliamentary hypocrisy. These actions made him a polarizing figure: a hero to disaffected voters and a nuisance to the political establishment. Though his party's electoral success was limited, Pernar's true impact was in his method. He demonstrated how social media and performative politics could be used to bypass traditional media and speak directly to a younger, digitally-native electorate, permanently altering the tone of Croatian political discourse.