POLICY LABYRINTH

POLICY LABYRINTH Robert Bajruši Robert Bajruši SDP expects further decline, but where is the bottom: 'I did not lose my mind to run' The SDP does not have a serious mayoral candidate in any of the four largest cities: Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek Part of the SDP deputies within the 10th convocation of the Croatian Parliament Part of the SDP deputies within the 10th convocation of the Croatian Parliament Goran Mehkek / Cropix Posted: August 31, 2020 8:19 pm Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail I didn't lose my mind so I could run. Because the one who wins will be at the head of the worst SDP and will have to take responsibility when we experience a flood in the local elections next year, a promising politician said a few days ago when we discussed the perspective of the Social Democratic Party. By all accounts, he was right. Namely, when the new president and leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia are elected on September 26, everything says that it will be political lipstick, and not the beginning of a new rise of the party, which until recently could count on 30 percent voter support. According to recent polls, the SDP stands at 16 percent and for the first time in two decades has no potential to be a serious alternative to the ruling HDZ. In such circumstances, the candidacy process ended, and there are three candidates for the future president of the SDP (with the exception of the anonymous Marin Percan ), namely the famous MP Peđa Grbin , Krapina-Zagorje County Željko Kolar and Mirela Ahmetović , mayor of Omišalj on Krk. The latter duo, Kolar - Ahmetović, you would not be able to recognize when you met them on the street, and that speaks to the situation in which the formally strongest opposition party finds itself when it is not able to point out a nationally relevant politician for the leading position. Although they have been in the media for days, they have not managed to arouse almost any interest, let alone hype, such as Zoran Milanović, who was also a politician from the second echelon, when he nominated his candidacy for Ivica Račan's successor in 2007 . The third man - Peđa Grbin - is someone who, unlike his rivals, is known outside Krapina and Omišalj, but the question is whether he can unite the deeply divided party, and then bring back the lost voters and gain some new ones.