Siniša Hajdaš Dončić new leader of Croatia's SDP

(Patria) - Croatia's SDP has announced the official results of the internal party elections for the party president, and the winner is Siniša Hajdaš Dončić.

The former Zagorje County prefect and former transport minister Hajdaš Dončić won 56.46 percent of the vote, while his opponent, the mayor of Makarska, Zoran Paunović, won 43.54 percent.

Voter turnout in the second round was 36 percent.

At the party headquarters in Zagreb, prominent SDP members gathered in the evening, and among the new members of the party Presidency were the mayor of Koprivnica, Mišel Jakšić, and the President of the Zagreb City Assembly, Joško Klisović.

The outgoing SDP president, Peđa Grbin, also arrived and was the first to speak.

- These were wonderful, beautiful, sometimes challenging, sometimes like this, sometimes like that four years - said Grbin and wished Hajdaš Dončić to be a more successful SDP president than he was.

Paunović thanked everyone who voted for him, as well as his wife Nataša for moral support, and then his colleagues with whom he connected during these weeks.

He congratulated Hajdaš Dončić, hoping that he would lead the party in the direction he announced - to have a united SDP that will win power in four years.

Hajdaš Dončić spoke last, was brief, with a clear message.

- The elections are over, under the red umbrella of the SDP there is room for everyone - said Hajdaš Dončić, asserting that without the SDP there are no positive changes.

He said his wish is for the SDP to be the first, not the second party.

- I listened carefully to the remarks of members regardless of who they voted for. The SDP will adapt to the times, and the emphasis will be on left-wing economic policies - he stated and added that at the core of the SDP are anti-fascism, women's rights, the rights of sexual minorities...