A surprising decision by MOST’s candidate for mayor of Split.
MOST’s candidate for mayor of Split Robert Pauletić will not be a candidate at the local elections to be held in May after all, reports tportal.hr on April 19, 2017.
Pauletić is disappointed with his rating in latest polls, and says he does not want to spend the next four years being a member of the Split Town Council.
He explained his reasons in a statement. “In recent polls, I have a little more than ten percent of support. There are three candidates with larger support, so voters apparently did not recognize my desire to significantly reduce the number of employees at the town hall. I think the large number of employees and incompetence of municipal authorities are a major problem for Split. According to polls, it is clear that I cannot enter the second round, and such things cannot be changed from the Town Council. This is my lost election battle: sometimes you need to know when to give up. I will return to my private business, because fortunately I do not depend on income from politics,” added Pauletić.
“This proves that my motive was not to get a position in the Town Council or achieve any personal gain, but my desire to help Split. I would like to thank MOST for having confidence in me, but I have no motive for this political race. I leave MOST in Split in the hands of young, capable people who will certainly achieve a good result in the elections even without me. I invite MOST’s voters to be loyal to MOST,” concluded Pauletić.
MOST’s political secretary Nikola Grmoja commented on Pauletić’s decision. “In my personal vocabulary there is no word for giving up, so I can hardly understand this move. Nothing is lost because Pauletić’s rating was not better than MOST’s rating in Split,” said Grmoja. He added that MOST would still have a candidate for mayor of Split and would announce his or her name in a few days.
In the short-lived government led by Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković, Pauletić was MOST’s deputy tourism minister.
