In November, the party will get its third president.
The SDP Main Committee held a meeting on Saturday and called the elections for the new party president, who will be directly elected by around 37,000 party members on 19 November, reports Večernji List on September 24, 2016.
Members who wish to stand for that and other party positions must announce their bids in the next seven days, and then they will have 30 days to collect the required 1,000 signatures of support.
Members of the party who had already announced their candidacies for party president were joined on Saturday by the president of the SDP branch in Zagreb Davor Bernardić, who told reporters that he felt responsibility to the party in which he grew up and has been an active member of for 18 years.
“SDP has to become a modern, progressive party that will gather people. I will return SDP to power. We need to involve many more people in SDP, a lot more people in SDP must get their chance to contribute. SDP is a well of enthusiasm, energy, ideas, and it can give a momentum to Croatia and its future. That is my manifesto. We should restore social-democracy to SDP, and we should return SDP to citizens”, said Bernardić. He also said that he expected support of many SDP members. “I have been in the party for 18 years. I can say that people expect a real and not a fake change.”
Bids for SDP president were also announced by Gordana Sobol and Karolina Leaković. “I think that it is extremely important for us to demonstrate the power of women. This is an opportunity, no matter how it will end up, to bring in a different perspective into this campaign and to perhaps stress some issues more. That is one of the reasons why I have decided to run”, said Sobol. She added that SDP would enter a period of consolidation, as well as transition.
Leaković said she would transform SDP towards social-democratic infrastructure which would insist on public financing of education and healthcare system, and employment.
Other candidates are former Interior Minister Ranko Ostojić, MEP Tonino Picula, former Justice Minister Orsat Miljenić, head of SDP Osijek-Baranja County branch Domagoj Hajduković, and former MP Vesna Škulić
The Main Committee also discussed the causes of the electoral defeat, but the conclusions will be adopted at the next session on 5 November. Outgoing party president Zoran Milanović spoke at the beginning of the meeting. “We have fought for ordinary people; you should continue with that and remain a people’s party. Continue to build this party that we have built together, your goal should be to change things for the better”, said Milanović, apologizing to all those he might have offended in the last ten years.
SDP was formed in 1990 as the successor of the League of Communists of Croatia. Its first leader was Ivica Račan (1990-2007), who was the Prime Minister from 2000 to 2003. After Račan resigned due to health reasons, Zoran Milanović was elected as second party president. He was the Prime Minister from 2011 to January 2016.
