Antonio Iric (1900-1979) was a Kresimirian politician who founded the Bistrice People’s Party (BPP), the nation’s first significant regionalist party. As the patriarch of the Iric political family, he established a political dynasty that would dominate the politics of northern Kresimiria for a century.
Political Career
In the 1922 Kresimirian Assembly Election, Antonio Iric made history as the only Senator elected under a non-independent party banner that was not the ruling Revolutionary People’s Party. Representing his newly formed Bistrice People’s Party, he won a seat in District IV (Severnivaraje).
The BPP advocated for the autonomy of Severnivaraje through peaceful, democratic means, standing in stark contrast to the Southern Moraviski militant separatism of the banned BRC-21. Iric led the BPP from its founding in 1922 until 1942, serving as the primary voice for northern regionalism in the Assembly.
He served as a Senator for two decades, being re-elected in the 1932 election. He chose not to run for a third term in 1942, passing the torch to his younger brother, Imanuel Iric, who successfully won the seat and took over the party leadership.
Later Life and Legacy
Though retired from the Assembly, Antonio Iric remained an influential elder statesman within the northern regionalist movement. He lived to see his nephew, Pavel Iric, merge the BPP into the more broad Northern Power party in 1963. He died in 1979 at the age of 79.
His legacy is that of the founding father of constitutional regionalism in Kresimiria and the creator of one of the nation’s most enduring political dynasties.