‘Very Difficult and Bloody Job’: A. Kolarić Weighs Candidacy for Head of Zagreb SDP

Although it is still unknown when or under what rules the internal party elections in the SDP will be held, public attention is already drawn to potential candidates, especially for the head of the Zagreb organization, where unofficial calculations suggest more than five candidates on the list, which will most likely include the returnee to the party, Aleksandra Kolarić.

SDP Member of Parliament Gordan Maras and the secretary of the Zagreb SDP, Dominik Etlinger, announced their candidacies during the summer, and Kolarić stated to Hina on Friday that she has “never been closer to the decision to run for president of the Zagreb SDP.”

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“I will make the decision about my candidacy considering the interests of both the party in Zagreb and at the national level, especially the interests of citizens who must once again receive a credible option on the left in the capital,” emphasizes the communication expert and former spokesperson for Račan, who returned to the SDP in June.

Clan Division in Zagreb SDP

She states that the Zagreb SDP is divided and in significant trouble, just like the national party, so the new team faces a “very difficult and bloody job.”

“This is a job for serious people,” says Kolarić, who believes that the leader of the Zagreb team must be someone with relevant professional experience, who has a career behind them, appropriate skills, knowledge, and the necessary energy.

The “clan division” is seen by many in the party as a key problem of the Zagreb SDP, and it is expected that the group gathered around Miranda Mrsić will present a candidate, Alan Čičak, while candidates from the group around Davor Bernardić include Denis Restak, head of the local organization Trešnjevka Jug, and Darko Liović, who leads the local organization Trešnjevka Sjever.

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Sources close to SDP Vice President Rajko Ostojić indicate that he will certainly not run because he has “always been against duplicating functions.”

Saša Molan, who leads the Zagreb SDP, refuses to speculate on the number of candidates because, he emphasizes, the process of official candidacies has not even begun.

“The Presidency of the SDP needs to first establish new election rules, and only then does the procedure for announcing candidacies and collecting support signatures begin,” says Molan.

New Statute Not Adopted or Ready for Voting

The party statute, with new electoral rules, has not yet been adopted or prepared for voting. They say in the party that work is underway on it, and it should be one of the topics at the party Presidency meeting next Tuesday.

It is also possible that some members of the Presidency will put on the agenda the acceleration of the process of holding new internal party elections for local organizations.

According to Novi list, the Primorje-Gorski Kotar SDP will request from the party leadership that regular local elections be held no later than Christmas, six months after the local elections, as prescribed by the existing party statute.

Some members believe that the results of the local elections for the SDP in many places were so poor that this process can no longer be delayed while violating the statute.

They demand that the party receive new leadership at the local level, new energy and strength, and that “work finally begins.” They believe this cannot be postponed until May next year, which would be necessary for the elections along with the adoption of the new statute.

In the corridors and on social media, some party members speculate that Bernardić is “buying time” by delaying the adoption of the new statute to place his people in the field.