Fokus and IDS Leave the SDP Coalition

The Fokus party, as announced by their leader Davor Nađi, has made the final decision not to participate in the parliamentary elections as part of the SDP coalition due to the inability to engage in constructive dialogue regarding the program, as well as their unacceptable stance on the erosion of constitutional order.

– The Fokus party is different from all parties in Croatia in that we do not say what people want to hear, but we speak things as they are and how they should be. We are entering these elections not only to remove the current government but to determine a new direction for the development of Croatia. Fokus is not only interested in April 17 of this year; we are interested in April 18 and all the days and years that will follow after the elections – Nađi stated on his Facebook profile.

Fokus, he added, will not recklessly charge ahead as their goal is not a scorched earth, which he believes will remain of Croatia after these parliamentary elections.

– We in Fokus are young people, a new generation of politicians who want and have the responsibility to lead this country for the decades to come. Currently, there is such a heating and psychosis in Croatia as during the Cold War. We have two sides threatening each other, and in the end, there will really only be a scorched earth – he emphasized.

He reflected on the agreements with the SDP and the formation of a large coalition, highlighting that Fokus remained the last in those negotiations because they warned that it is not enough to simply remove the HDZ from power, but that one must know what to do the day after the elections.

– Unfortunately, we could not come to a position to discuss the program constructively. I am aware that the SDP has victory in its sights, but that is unacceptable to us if the price is the erosion of constitutional order, aggression in the public space, and political reckoning. Because of all this, Fokus will not participate in the elections as part of the SDP coalition but will go its own way – Nađi stressed.

He reminded that Fokus has only existed on the Croatian political scene for four years, but in such a short period, they have achieved taking power in Samobor, Sveti Nedelja, Sveti Ivan Zelina, Dugo Selo, Pirovac, and Križ. These are places, he conveys, that have been declared the best in Croatia in recent years.

– We know how. And we will offer that to voters who are currently dissatisfied with the behavior of the HDZ and SDP, who do not like these political reckonings. We are a new generation of politicians, and all those who are tired of watching old political faces swap positions have the opportunity to vote for us. We are going to remove the HDZ, but in a way that offers solutions for the day after. We know how to do that. And we have already proven it – he concluded.

Fokus, together with IDS, PGS, and Reformists, established a liberal alliance last year, and IDS also left the large left-center coalition led by the SDP.