Several SDP representatives on Thursday, in response to journalists’ inquiries, critically reflected on the actions of the party president Davor Bernardić, from socializing at a birthday celebration with Milan Bandić, due to whose campaign debts from 2009 the party could be seized for more than nine million kuna, to the reaction of five daily newspapers to Bernardić’s frequent sending of denials through a law office.
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“On the list of things I would not have done if I were in his place, there was another one,” commented the president of the SDP Club of Representatives Arsen Bauk regarding Bernardić’s attendance at the birthday celebration of Dalibor Bastalac, the leader of the Zelina branch of Bandić’s Labor and Solidarity Party.
Bernardić in the company that undermined SDP
A photo was published from the celebration showing Bernardić and Bandić, surrounded by a group that recently undermined the SDP majority in the Zagreb County Assembly and SDP member Mihael Zmajlović from the head of that body.
Gordan Maras also emphasized that he would “be cautious about who he socializes with and who he dines with,” adding that he always chooses the company with whom he will spend the evening.
Mirando Mrsić assesses that “it was inappropriate for the party president to be in that company because when you are at the head of a party, you must be careful about who you are with.”
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Commenting on the letter from five daily newspapers to the members of the SDP Presidency regarding the denials that Bernardić systematically sends through a law office, Bauk stated that he “has always known how to assess his capabilities, but to go with you to discuss your colleagues, that is beyond my capabilities.”
The letter states that constant requests for denials are considered pressure. If someone writes something, and another says it is not so, then let the readers judge who is right. But that is my opinion, maybe I am biased, says Bauk.
Maras believes that the problem is not with the media because the media is doing its job, while Mrsić states that “the president has gone down the wrong path.”
Mrsić: It concerns SDP’s credibility in advocating for freedom of speech
“This is not good for the party and our reputation among citizens because if you promote freedom of speech, and at the same time try to direct editorial policy through a law office, then your credibility is called into question and whether you really believe in what you advocate,” Mrsić conveys.
Regarding the seizure and blockades threatening SDP, Bauk says that there are people in the party whose job it is and who know more. Mrsić, on the other hand, hopes that a solution will be found because this creates enormous problems for the functioning of the party.
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“The court made a decision as it did, as far as I hear, the party will appeal, but there should also be a plan ‘B’, which means preparing for an unfavorable scenario. I think we are late on this because, as far as I know, there is no plan ‘B’. The party must find a solution for the seizure and the threatening blockade, and after that, how to service that debt. We must ensure the functioning of the party, and that is now the primary task of the president and the business director and the entire Presidency,” assesses Mrsić.
Maras is also not aware if SDP will manage to postpone the seizure, but he claims that there are obviously people in Croatia who have a significant influence on the judiciary, and that is one of the main problems.
Maras: Independence of the judiciary is called into question
“The independence of the judiciary is, as we see every day, called into question by various rulings, so it is possible that a ruling like Horvatinčić’s occurs, and so this ruling occurred where the first-instance ruling was completely overturned compared to what it was, without being returned to the first instance,” says Maras.
The judiciary in Croatia, which was built by HDZ back in the 90s, is probably the number one problem. We have a mayor who, after being accused of serious criminal offenses, functions normally as if nothing has happened, proceedings last 10 to 15 years for corruption acts from 2007, and we see that HDZ has never paid Fimi Media, criticized Maras.
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When asked if it is time for Bernardić to step down in a gentleman’s agreement with the party, Bauk replied that these are speculations that have been in the media for a long time, but the members of the party should express themselves with “some initiative based on the existing rules of our functioning.” He added that he does not participate in this kind of pressure.
Mrsić reminded that “he has been saying all along that the president should think about the future of the party, not about his own future,” adding that he expressed his ambitions long ago (when he announced his candidacy for the president of SDP), and they still stand.
