ZAGREB, 4 Dec, 2021 - Viktor Gotovac was elected leader of the Zagreb branch of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday after winning 696 votes in the second round of the internal party election on Saturday, while his rival Matej Mišić received 325 votes.

Of the 1,700 members of the party's Zagreb branch entitled to vote, 1,031 cast their ballot.

Speaking after the announcement of the election results, Gotovac thanked everyone for taking part in the election process and "showing that the SDP is important to them because they want it to be better, have new people and work honestly."

He called on SDP members, sympathisers and voters, as well as other people, to stand by them and help them become better. He said that the SDP should fight for social and existential values, municipal issues, as well as for ideas and ideology.

"We have to fight to get back Marshal Tito Square, to ensure that Aleksandra Zec gets a street or square in Zagreb. We have to fight to take power and nothing will stop us. The SDP is going forward," Gotovac said.

Aleksandra Zec was a 12-year-old girl executed together with her parents, Marija and Mihajlo, by Croatian police reservists under Tomislav Merčep in Zagreb in December 1991 during the war. The Zec family were ethnic Serbs.

Mišić congratulated Gotovac on being elected, saying that as of today the SDP continued working together.

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ZAGREB, 13 June, 2021 - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) Main Committee on Saturday confirmed the SDP Presidency decision to dissolve the party branches in Zagreb and Slavonski Brod as well as the SDP Međimurje County branch, with party leader Peđa Grbin saying the SDP had to change first if it wanted to change Croatia.

The SDP branches were dissolved due to poor results in the recent local elections and worsened intra-party relations.

"I want the SDP to be a party that will dedicate itself to changing Croatia for the better," said Grbin.

"If we want to change Croatia, and we do; and if we want to change Zagreb, and we do - then we have to change first," he stressed.

He noted that the party had to start talking about issues that were important to voters - from precarious work and Sunday work to different types of relations in society - if it wanted to win voters' trust.

Grbin said that so far the SDP had been preoccupied with itself.

The dissolution of the Zagreb party branch was supported by 57 members of the Main Committee, 21 were against and one abstained while the dissolution of the Slavonski Brod SDP branch was supported by 61 members while 18 voted against.

The dissolution of the Međimurje County SDP branch was supported by 62 members of the Main Committee, 19 voted against and two abstained.

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