After the committee’s five-hour-long meeting, at which also the SDP branch in the City of Zagreb was dissolved, the party’s leader Peđa Grbin, told the press that “today’s decisions were necessary,” and added that the SDP would like to have a clean start for the local elections which Croatia is expected to hold in May.
Grbin said that the decisions on erasing Sabo from the party membership and on dissolving the branch in the City of Zagreb would render the SDP stronger before the local polls.
The ouster of Sabo was carried with 70 votes in favour, eight votes against and four abstentions.
The dissolution of the SDP branch in Zagreb, which Grbin accused of non-functioning and of being involved in clientelism to some extent, was supported with 65 votes, 18 votes were against it and 10 abstentions.
The video conference of the SDP main committee was attended by 92 members.
Explaining those decisions, Grbin said that the expulsion of Sabo was not directed against him personally.
The leadership’s decision was prompted by Sabo’s recent threat to reactivate his term as a member of the party’s presidency.
These developments ensued after the Vukovar party branch committee’s unanimous decision to support Sabo as the SDP mayoral candidate in May’s local elections. The local committee defied the leadership’s recommendation that Sabo should not be nominated for that post as he had been convicted of corruption for trying to bribe a local councillor during his mayoral term. Apart from having served six months in prison, which enables rehabilitation under the law, Sabo is also facing charges of abuse of office and powers for allegedly embezzling funds intended for summer holidays for Vukovar children.
Grbin hopes for victory in a few cities
Speaking about the goals which the SDP set for itself during the forthcoming local elections, Grbin said that he expected the party’s victories in Rijeka, Sisak, Čakovec, Koprivnica, Vrbovec, Jastrebarsko and in Krapina-Zagorje County.
Asked about the scenarios for Zagreb, the SDP chief admitted that he would be also happy with the victory of the left-wing platform “We Can”even if SDP finished the race in second, as he perceived that as a guarantee for the prosperity of the capital city after 16 May, when the elections are to be organised.
