Leaković: In the SDP, we talk a lot about the Istanbul Convention, but when it needs to be implemented, we have reservations

At the 7th reporting-thematic convention of the SDP on Saturday, the party unanimously adopted a new Statute which, it is claimed, “further democratizes the party”.

The proposal for the Statute, led by Ivo Jelušić, a member of the Presidency at the head of the Statutory Commission, was attempted to be amended by delegates with 145 amendments, of which the majority were not accepted.

However, the amendment by Peđa Grbin, which requested that the party’s electoral convention must be held within 180 days after elections, regardless of whether they were regular or extraordinary, passed. This would prevent the party president from avoiding the electoral convention in the case of extraordinary elections. The amendment similarly regulates the situation at the local level after local elections.

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Grbin’s amendment, which prevents individuals convicted of criminal offenses from running for office and holding party positions, was also accepted, allowing municipal and county committees to suspend a member against whom criminal proceedings are being conducted from a catalog to be determined, whereby the member can independently put their membership on hold and thus not burden the membership, and the member is obliged to inform the Secretary-General about the initiation of proceedings against them.

Difficulties in the procedure for dismissing the party president

The convention rejected amendments from Karolina Leaković, who requested that in articles dealing with the ‘zip model’ of creating party lists, the wording “in principle” be removed, as this, she says, means that the ‘zip model’ is not actually mandatory. She also requested the introduction of the ‘zip model’ for elections at all levels, but this was rejected, with the explanation that they do not have enough women, especially at the local levels. However, her amendment requesting that representatives of the Women’s Forum be invited to meetings of county committees was accepted.

Leaković accompanied the rejection of her amendments with the comment:

– In the SDP, we talk a lot about the Istanbul Convention and gender equality, but when it needs to be shown and implemented in the party, we have reservations.

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The new Statute has made it more difficult to dismiss the party president. Unlike the previous Statute, which required a request from five county organizations to convene an extraordinary convention, the new one requires that this request must also be approved by a majority of the SDP’s Main Committee.

The president of the SDP, Davor Bernardić, stated in his opening speech at the convention that he is “extremely proud that the SDP practices consistency and equality, which is evident in the new Statute of the party, which brings 50 percent women alternately on the SDP’s lists for the Croatian Parliament, European Parliament, and county assemblies, making the SDP the first party in Croatia where female politicians are equal to male politicians.” He had previously announced that the new Statute would democratize, decentralize, and de-acumulate functions within the party.

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At the end of the seven-hour convention, Bernardić told the delegates that “it is important that they have today determined a new direction for the SDP and that it is now up to them to fulfill their promises in a more united and stronger manner because Croatia deserves it”.

The delegates of the convention dispersed to the sounds of Vice Vukov’s song “Your Country”.