Vejnović: Party leaders must hear other opinions, stronger democratization is necessary

There has been an extremely turbulent period in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Croatia in recent days after Slavko Linić was literally expelled from the party. 47 members voted for his remaining in the party, and 50 SDP members voted for his expulsion. The former finance minister, who did not listen to the Prime Minister and party leader Zoran Milanović, paid this price, which analysts see as a return to the party's structure from before the 1990s.

Whether this type of behavior within the SDP will affect the elections remains to be seen, but Duško Vejnović, a sociologist and political analyst, told the Patria News Agency that the situation within this party in Croatia should not be repeated in the SDP of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- Whether the situation from the Croatian SDP will affect BiH, or rather SDP BiH, I don't think so, but it is important in any case to emphasize that the trend of party democratization must not stop. Not only the SDP but all other parties in BiH – says Vejnović.

Although democratization of political parties is felt, Vejnović says, we still have cases where dissenters with party leaders are removed from the party.

- This type of action was adopted from the 1990s, specifically the communist system, where only the views of the leader and leadership bodies are sought. This is always presented as a vote. But, the vote is tendentious, where the identity of each individual is not expressed, but rather some collective consciousness of a dominant group. The tendency, without a doubt, is towards increasing party democratization, and that is good. A critical attitude towards leaders must also be fostered – added Vejnović.

He further adds that parties must allow freedom of thought and speech within themselves.

- Leaders should hear other opinions, because what remains from the former system, that one leader is unquestionable, should be abolished. Along with democratization, the trend of having one leader and others following him should be abolished – Vejnović emphasized.