Meanwhile, over at SDP HQ…
SDP’s Main Committee will meet later today in order to analyze the results of the last parliamentary elections and call the elections for the party president for the next four years. Importantly, it will also determine the rules by which delegates to the party convention will be elected. SDP Presidency has proposed that the elections for party president should take place on 12 March, while the party convention, where other party bodies will be elected, should take place on 2 April, reports Index.hr on January 23, 2016.
SDP president and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović will propose the amendment to electoral rules for convention delegates, who should be chosen by preferential voting, with all party members being eligible to be candidates. According to Arsen Bauk, a member of the party presidency, this would prevent the present system in which delegates are chosen by the leaderships of local party organizations, which always try to eliminate party members who might vote against their wishes. It is expected this and other proposals could lead to heated debate, since Milanović’s opponents claim that he is changing the election rules to better suit his candidacy to remain party president even though he lost parliamentary elections held in November and just yesterday had to hand over power to HDZ.
The arguments started on Thursday during a meeting of SDP Presidency. Party vice-president and Milanović’s main opponent Zlatko Komadina spoke against Milanović’s proposal. “This is against the party constitution, we cannot change the rules after the match has already started”, said Komadina to reporters.
His opinion was not shared by Milanović’s associate Bauk, who said that rules are not being changed because they have not even yet been adopted. “The rules do not yet exist. This proposal actually expands the rights of party members, increasing intraparty democracy and allows those who think differently from their local leadership to have their say. I believe it will be supported by acclamation because it is something that we all want”, said Bauk.
Most members of the party Presidency have rejected Komadina’s proposal that the elections for SDP president should be moved to 2 April. “All participants in the election should be allowed equal access to members during the campaign and that is why I suggested that the elections for the president should be moved to April, so that the campaign would last at least 21 days, and not just five days”, said Komadina. His proposal was backed by only two members of the Presidency, Davor Bernardić and Rajko Ostojić.
