ZAGREB, July 5, 2018 – Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said on Thursday that he did not intend to step down as party president, urging all members of his opposition party to preserve social democratic values and honour the party statute. Bernardić called for defusing tensions and discussing party issues within the party.
The SDP leader, who was elected the party chief in late 2016, has recently received a letter signed by 90 disgruntled SDP officials, including more than half of the SDP parliamentary deputies.
Commenting on the letter, Bernardić said that it had been addressed to him, declining to divulge its contents. As regards any formal requests for resignation, I have not received any request in line with the party statute and rules, he explained.
Bernardić admitted that it was not pleasant to work in such circumstances, underscoring that this “has been the sixth or seventh attempt to topple the SDP president”. “In my mind, this resembles an attempted coup or anarchy. We are not supposed to do that, we must discuss the many problems in the party in a critical manner and at party bodies, honouring our statute and behaving like a democratic party in a democratic country,” Bernardić said.
Asked whether the disgruntled signatories of the letter would be removed from the party, the SDP chief said that “now it is important to keep dignity and a feeling of belonging to the SDP.”
Bernardić’s statement that he would stay at the party helm prompted a few disappointed SDP lawmakers to say that his presidency would negatively affect the party.
Asked to comment on the fact that a settlement plan for the indebted retail and food Agrokor group was voted in by a huge majority of creditors on Wednesday, the opposition leader said that the group had not yet started repaying its debts and that problems would begin once the process of restructuring starts.
He believes that, eventually, tax payers will be the ones to pay for the process of restructuring. “Evidently, the entire process was contaminated and we in the SDP and Croatia will not forget the biggest corruption scandal in Croatia’s history, such as the siphoning of 500 million kuna for counselling services,” Bernardić said.
