The Eight Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Osma Vlada Republike Hrvatske) was the second of two Croatian Government cabinets led by Prime Minister Ivica Račan. It was announced on 30 July 2002 and its term ended on 23 December 2003. Račan's second cabinet was formed after Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) and Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) had decided to leave the ruling six-party coalition. The cabinet was succeeded by Cabinet of Ivo Sanader I, following the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union's return to power in the 2003 parliamentary elections.
Parties included in the government:
Party breakdown of cabinet ministers (23 December 2003):
Following the exit of IDS (in June 2001) and HSLS (in July 2002) from the ruling coalition, the cabinet was reconstructed. IDS only had one seat in the cabinet which had already been taken over by SDP. As for seven HSLS members of government (six ministers and one deputy prime minister), they were replaced either by members of SDP or by politicians from HSLS' splinter party Libra (Party of Liberal Democrats) which was formed by former HSLS members who decided to support the government rather than follow HSLS president Dražen Budiša's decision to leave the coalition and move into opposition. A third liberal party LS (Liberalna stranka), which had been established in 1997 by Vlado Gotovac as an earlier offshoot of HSLS, also chose to support the ruling coalition and gained one seat in the cabinet.
Some periods in the table start before the cabinet's inauguration, when the minister listed was appointed to the post in the preceding Cabinet of Ivica Račan I (27 January 2000 – 30 July 2002).