Infighting is not confined just to the ruling coalition.
Three days after Zlatko Komadina submitted signatures in support of his candidacy for SDP president, his campaign launched serious accusations against the current party leadership. They accuse them that they have prevented or hampered the collection of signatures in as many as six counties. Therefore, they have failed to collect almost no signatures in Krapina-Zagorje, Osijek-Baranja and Šibenik-Knin counties, while in Varaždin, Dubrovnik-Neretva and Istria counties they managed to get only a small number of signatures, reports Večernji List on March 2, 2016.
“These is information which we have received from people on the ground who have sent us emails and text messages complaining”, confirmed Rajko Ostojić, campaign manager for Zlatko Komadina.
One of those who complained is Vjeran Radelić who was collecting signatures for Komadina in Varaždin. “Officially, there was no ban on collecting signatures. However, people were telling me that they were afraid to sign support for Komadina because the pressure was enormous. They told me that the other side called them and questioned why they even came to Komadina’s event”, said Radelić.
Luka Duvnjak from Đakovo, who collected signatures for Komadina in Osijek-Baranja County, also has serious allegations against Milanović’s team. “They did not allow me to collect signatures at the premises of the party branch in Đakovo. When I asked the chairman of SDP in Đakovo Damir Tomić why we were not allowed to collect signatures for all the candidates in the same way, Tomić responded: ‘While I am head of SDP in Đakovo and member of Parliament, we will not collect signatures for idiots'”, Duvnjak claimed.
Tomić responded saying that all those who requested it could collect signatures for anyone at the party branch office. “Bernardić, Komadina and Ostojić have not even asked us to collect signatures at the premises in Đakovo. After all, Duvnjak could have collected signatures for his candidate somewhere else”, said Tomić.
Milanović’s campaign manager Siniša Hajdaš Dončić was brief. “I do not like the character of those people who always blame others for failures”, he said. Another member of Milanović’s team wondered why Komadina did not report all the alleged irregularities to the party Election Commission. He could also have said something at the press conference after he submitted his 5,000 signatures. “Obviously, this is a reaction to the fact that Milanović has twice as many signatures”, said one of associates of Milanović who has submitted over 10,000 signatures.
