On 2 April, SDP members will choose who will lead the main opposition party in the future.
The campaign for intraparty elections in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has entered its final week. Next Saturday, on 2 April, 37,000 party members will go to polling stations to elect the new president of the party. Both candidates, Zoran Milanović and Zlatko Komadina, have decided to end their campaigns with large rallies in Zagreb, reports Večernji List on March 27, 2016.
Both events will take place at the Tvornica Kulture. Komadina will organize his final rally on Tuesday while Milanović will send his final pre-election message to party voters on Thursday. With this decision, both candidates have demonstrated how important the capital is for their campaigns, which is not surprising given the fact that the Zagreb branch is the largest in the party, with about 6,000 members.
In addition, the city of Zagreb has special significance for Zoran Milanović. He was born and lives in the capital so it is important for him to achieve the best possible result and prove to Davor Bernadić, the head of the Zagreb party organization who has endorsed Komadina, that his support is not so important.
The campaign has been marked by harsh rhetoric from both sides, including personal insults. Some of the older party members have expressed their disappointment with the campaign, saying that SDP has stopped being a democratic party.
The two campaigns have not yet managed to agree on a possible debate. Zlatko Komadina’s team continues to insist on at least one debate in front of members of the party’s Youth Forum. “We have given up on five major debates in various cities, but we cannot give up on this”, said Rajko Ostojić, Komadina’s campaign manager.
Milanović’s campaign is still continuing to insist on a TV debate, so the most probable outcome is that there will be no debate at all. While the issue of debate has still not been finally solved, it is certain that on the election day, 2 April, both candidates will come to the party headquarters at the Ibler Square in Zagreb, where the official results will be announced.
