His political career began in early 2011 when, as a student, he took part in protests against the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) government as well as against the general injustice, disorder and corruption in the country at the time of the toughest austerity measures. A few months later, he became one of the first members of the then political party Savez za promjene (Alliance for Change). Outside politics, Sinčić grew sweet potatoes in his hometown of Karlovac.
He was extremely active in activism and politics, striving to block the eviction of people being thrown onto the streets by banks, courts and the state as a result of usurious debts. At the end of 2012, he became the Vice-President of Stop deložacijama (Stop Evictions), an association that defends and supports the victims of evictions.
In the summer 2014, he and his colleagues changed the name of their existing party to found Živi zid. Aside from his anti-eviction activities, Ivan, together with Živi zid activists, has also organised and taken part in many protests, most notably against management corruption at oil company INA, electricity provider HEP and media outlet HRT.
In that same year of 2014, as a candidate in the presidential elections, he stood out on the political scene for his unique programme based on calls for deprivatisation, an amendment to the Enforcement Act, an immediate end to all evictions, and a return to Croatian monetary sovereignty. With 16.52% of the vote, he came third. This was seen as a huge victory for Živi zid, which had emerged from nothing to become a large political movement.
In the 2015 national parliamentary elections, the party got its first seat with Ivan Vilibor Sinčić, who became the youngest ever Croatian MP. The following year, in fresh elections for the Croatian Parliament, a coalition led by Živi zid secured eight seats, one of which went to Ivan Vilibor Sinčić for the second time. During his parliamentary mandate, Sinčić served two years as Chair of the Committee for Gender Equality and eight months as Chair of the Environment and Nature Conservation Committee. He also remained a member of the Agricultural Committee throughout his mandate.
In 2017, he also chaired the Commission of Inquiry into the management and disposal of financial and other resources at the Institute of Immunology, where he did the lion’s share of the Commission’s work in uncovering a number of illegalities and irregularities, and also put forward solutions for this world-renowned Croatian company with a century-old history.
As a Member of the Croatian Parliament, he fought for generational political changes, against foreclosures, evictions and debt bondage, and against the imposition of genetically modified food. He campaigned for monetary sovereignty, agricultural development, the protection of small producers against large corporations, and for the rights of whistle-blowers, producers and borrowers with Swiss franc-denominated loans, as well as for the protection of the environment and animals.
During his mandate, he met with many citizens and always endeavoured to either solve their problems or do as much as he could to help. Moved by citizens’ problems, he wrote hundreds of parliamentary questions to the government, ministers and national institutions, and submitted hundreds of letters, statements and criminal complaints against corrupt politicians, judges and other officials and against a number of companies and institutions.
A true activist, Sinčić travelled all over Croatia in order to understand the conditions in which his fellow citizens are living and fully grasp their wants and needs.
He tabled dozens of bills, including legislation on: electronic voting, investigating the origins of property, enforcement, protecting whistle-blowers, preventing conflicts of interest, the Zagreb earthquake relief fund, the Chamber of Commerce, and protecting against non-ionising radiation, as well as acts supporting the legalisation of cannabis, among others.
Through his work in the public eye and in the Croatian Parliament, he has sparked public debates on a number of societal topics, such as foreclosures, evictions, the credit system and outstanding debts, and corruption. These issues were previously marginal concerns or were not even on the public radar. He has therefore raised awareness among Croatians, as well as their aspirations for generational political change.
In the 2019 European elections, Sinčić won the largest number of votes and so became a Member of the European Parliament.
In the European Parliament, he became a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Delegation for relations with India. He is also a substitute member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.
As an MEP, he has continued to champion national policy topics, as well as taking up certain new European-wide issues which he included in his election campaign, such as the common fight against corruption, and calls for organic farming, the protection of the environment and oceans, and building world peace.
