ZAGREB, Jan 20 (Hina) - The presidency of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) decided unanimously on Sunday that Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic should submit an irrevocable resignation, SDP president Ivica Racan said after a session of the
party presidency in Zagreb on Sunday.
ZAGREB, Jan 20 (Hina) - The presidency of the Social Democratic
Party (SDP) decided unanimously on Sunday that Zagreb Mayor Milan
Bandic should submit an irrevocable resignation, SDP president
Ivica Racan said after a session of the party presidency in Zagreb
on Sunday. #L#
Racan said he did not expect the Zagreb City Assembly would discuss
the decision.
The SDP Presidency and Milan Bandic, as a member of the party
presidency, have decided that this move must be made and political
consequences faced, Racan said.
Bandic said he would continue performing his duties "in a fair and
responsible manner, with love and enthusiasm, as I have done over
the past year and a half", until he was relieved of duty at a Zagreb
City Assembly session on January 31. He confirmed that his
resignation was irrevocable and that the City Assembly would not
vote about it.
Asked why it had taken the party presidency two weeks to make this
decision, Racan said they had analysed the whole situation again
and tried to prove that they were ready to act responsibly and face
the consequences.
Racan said the party needed time to consider the situation because
its coalition partners and some media saw the case not as a problem
on the level of the Zagreb city SDP branch but a problem which needed
to be solved on the level of the entire party and by me," Racan
said.
"Bandic is a good mayor and that made it more difficult to accept his
mistake, the foolish thing he made. The Bandic affair does not end
here," he said.
Racan said he was not authorised to say whether the SDP would
nominate another candidate for the post of Zagreb mayor or if a new
election for the city mayor would be held.
Asked whether it was possible that Bandic would run in the election
if it took place, Racan said a decision on that matter would be made
later.
On January 5 Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic caused a minor car accident
driving under the influence of alcohol and escaped from the scene of
the accident and a subsequent on-the-spot investigation.
(hina) rml