Linic, Bandic, Baja – Preponderance for Milanovic

Milan Bandic, Slavko Linic and Marin Jurjevic Baja are close to reaching a decision to support Zoran Milanovic and Ljubo Jurcic.

While former president Ivica Racan's struggle for his life continues, the SDP is waging a battle for a new party president. Although candidates are surfacing, it is still not known for certain who will run.

If the current acting president Zeljka Antunovic runs and wins, it is certain that she will also be the SDP's candidate for prime minister because she believes that the SDP president should also be a candidate for premier. But, as she has still now shown readiness to soften this stance and so at least get the support of Jurcic's supporters, her chances are not so great.

Jurcic: I am not interested in becoming party president

SDP’s strategist Ljubo Jurcic has very clearly and concretely said what he things of stories about his candidacy as party president. 

-- This is out of the question, I am not interested in being party president – said the former economy minister.

He thus vehemently refuted stories about him running for the post, while a “new power” Zoran Milanovic has not done so yet. It is difficult to assume that he will voice his ambitions while Racan is fighting for his life.

But, although he announced that he would not run for president, Jurcic is no longer hiding his premiership ambitions, which has been criticised by some in the party. Jurcic himself believes that the winning combination for the party would be a “symbiosis” Jurcic-Milanovic, with which the SDP, he is convinced, would gain significant advantage over the HDZ and Ivo Sanader. And win in the elections.

“October president”

The option of Zoran Milanovic becoming the president of SDP, and Jurcic the prime minister candidate is getting an increasing support among influential SDP members hour by hour. Among the few, but very powerful, old guard of SDP members whose years of service in the party began during the time when they were still called the Croatian Communist Alliance, there is a prevailing conviction that an “October president” would be best for the future of the party. 

-- We used that term for presidents who were elected as an interim solution, for only a year until we reached a decision on the real, more permanent president. Such presidents usually knew they were ‘October presidents’ and would be active only one year. At the time it was usual that committee presidents were elected for only a year, usually around October. When a person who was at the helm of the party for several years was leaving, the leadership would usually elect somebody neutral. The time of his mandate would then be used for agreements on a more permanent solution – said an SDP member from a group of, as he says, “the only fifty mobile members of the party who stayed after the nineties”.

Most powerful trio – Linic, Bandic and Jurjevic

Of those fifty “mobile members”, who raised SDP from the ashes once again, together with Ivica Racan, the most powerful is a threesome from the three largest Croatian cities: Milan Bandic, Slavko Linic and Marin Jurjevic Baja. These three last week discovered a mutual passion for walking the city streets.

Not long after Linic and Bandic took a walk in Zagreb, Baja walked with one of Bandic’s close associates around Split. As we have learnt, they spoke of the same: how to find a candidate that is equally acceptable to all three, but does not have his own base in the party?

Since none of the three intends to run for party president (they tried to convince Bandic to run, but he was reluctant and eventually gave up on the idea), they do not want anybody that could later jeopardise their positions as party president.

Milanovic can realise victory in the elections

-- According to our statute, the party president has great authorities, especially in the electoral year. He signs all party lists and whoever chooses candidates for the parliament controls the party. It, therefore, suits Bandic, Linic and Baja that the president does not have his electoral base in the party. Because, even with the authority on paper, no president would dare make radical moves without support from within the party, especially if he knew he was elected for only a year – said an SDP member.

Therefore, Zoran Milanovic came up as an ideal solution, especially after they saw that citizens, according to surveys conducted on the Internet and television, favoured him most.

-- Perhaps Milanovic is a more ideal solution than we thought at first. We are even more of the belief that he can even bring us victory at parliamentary elections. Because, he is unknown to the HDZ, they cannot find anything against him and in the last several elections, citizens showed that they want new, fresh faces – said our source.

“The trio” holds 50 percent of the votes

 In case Milanovic gets their support, then SDP’s candidate for prime minister will most probably be Ljubo Jurcic, which creates an increased balance of power. But, Linic is probably currently pressing Bandic concerning this, since Bandic is not favouring his countryman. It is possible that a compromise will be reached so that the prime minister candidate is not even publicised at the party convention.

It is improbable that anybody would be able to oppose the alliance of the three SDP’s veterans. Delegates from Rijeka, Split and Zagreb will carry some fifty percent of votes at the party’s electoral conference, however the criteria are set at the coming main committee session. As the number of delegates nominated by a certain chapter depends on the electoral success, Koprivnica and Pozega must not be forgotten.

Mayors Zvonimir Mrsic and Zdravko Ronko were the biggest victors of the last local elections. And both are close to Bandic, which they never hid. It is very unlikely that they will now be on opposing sides.

Although some media have speculated that Mrsic could also run for party president, his chances are minimal. His currently biggest obstacle is the already mentioned closeness with Bandic.

Reason of Zeljka Antunovic`s non-candidacy

Zlatko Komadina also has no chances because of the same reason, for being close to Linic. So, the entire decision on the SDP’s future is now in the hands of Bandic, Linic and Jurjevic. Because, if they support Milanovic, it would be political suicide for Zeljka Antunovic to run for president.

She is currently still the party’s vice-president. If she runs, she will have to resign from her current post and risk losing any function at the electoral conference. If she does not run, she remains vice-president because only the president will be elected at the coming convention.

 So, it is better for her to wait for parliamentary elections as vice-president. If the SDP wins, she will have to get a good seat in the government or parliament. If the SDP loses, her road to the post of party president will be blocked.