Jurcic: I Don`t Want To Be A President Like Mesic

I don`t just want to walk around and pose for pictures, I want to affect policies and the economy, propose solutions - Ljubo Jurcic said.

After Ivo Josipovic, prominent legal expert of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), another SDP member is running for country president. Ljubo Jurcic, the party`s undestined premier, is in question. Although nobody has yet publically confirmed this, Ljubo Jurcic`s plans have been rumoured for months. His candidacy decision should be no surprise, seeing how him ambitions are big, they have been every since late SDP president and prime minister at the time Ivica Racan introduced him in the cabinet. However, in a brief conversation, Jurcic confided in us that he would be different as a president.

- I don`t want to be a president who walks around and just poses for photos. I want to be a president who will change things – Jurcic said.

When asked how he could do that without altering the Constitution, according to which presidential authorisations fall under the jurisdiction of the military and the creation of foreign policy, which is not Jurcic`s sector, he pointed out that he could contribute with his – opinion.

- I plan to propose concrete measures and moves, to express my opinion, especially on economic issues – he added.

The face it that the SDP member is active in this area, in other words, he is preparing the ground. He started touring Croatian cities and holding lectures, at which he mostly discusses economy issues, which are his “thing”. He almost has a base of his future associates and it seems that relations inside the SDP might help.

After SDP president Zoran Milanovic “fooled” him at the general elections, when the SDP Team, which consisted of two men (Milanovic as the new face and Jurcic as the candidate for the PM post) was reduced to only one man – Milanovic, relations have slightly become colder. The way this was done did certainly not help, seeing how Milanovic announced this decision by himself and “sent” Jurcic to his homeland Herzegovina.

Dinner and reconciliation

However, the times are changing, as it seems. Over a month ago, the former SDP Team, Milanovic and Jurcic, finally sat down at a restaurant and talked about things. Jurcic introduced his plan and revealed that he wants to be SDP`s candidate fore the president of state. According to close sources, the undestined premier was supported by Milanovic,  who promised not to interfere with the fight inside the party, i.e. elections which will come before the selection of the presidential candidate. Especially because another SDP member has announced his candidacy a month ago, Ivo Josipovic. Milanovic is somewhat more inclined towards him.

However, the question is whom are members of the party`s Main Committee more inclined towards, as Jurcic nearly came its president after the latest convention. Committee members, 103 of them, have to ratify the party`s presidential candidate. Although he recently promised not to interfere with the choice of presidential candidates, the question is whom will Milanovic be more inclined towards – Josipovic or Jurcic, who has never hidden his good relations with certain Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) members, because of his profession, as well as current Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, who also wanted him in his team. However, that offer was not alluring enough at the time.