PRESS RELEASE FROM THE KAŠTELA SDP
New elections for members of the local councils in Kaštela will be held on September 23rd this year, but the Kaštela SDP and their candidates will not participate in them, announced the leadership of the Kaštela SDP City Organization.
On Friday, the SDP members called a press conference and on that occasion issued a press release, which we present in its entirety.
- We would like to inform the public that we will boycott the upcoming elections for members of local councils by not proposing our lists, nor will our members participate in the work of the Election Commission and polling stations.
We made this decision after the city authorities repeatedly failed to accept our proposal to redefine the role of local government in Kaštela and to hold local elections simultaneously with the local elections.
Holding these two elections simultaneously would save significant funds in the City budget, and local elections would thus gain legitimacy due to higher turnout. So far, less than 10% of voters have turned out for local elections, mostly members of political parties and people close to political parties, which is why these elections have lost their meaning and turned into a mere formality. The councils of local committees in Kaštela are bodies that, as a rule, meet very rarely, if they do meet at all, and make decisions that are not binding on anyone. The City does not finance their work, so they do not have an annual program, activity plan, or financial plan.
Therefore, the question of the meaning of their existence and their role in the political life of the City arises. We find it unacceptable that elections are organized for such bodies and that citizens' money is spent on these elections.
Local self-government should be a form of direct citizen participation in decision-making on issues of their daily and direct interest in life and work, and local councils should be institutions that detect and solve citizens' problems, which is not the case in Kaštela.
Therefore, until the local councils receive real legitimacy in the elections and until the City enables them to fulfill their intended role in society, the SDP will not participate in the local elections and will boycott them completely. We call on other parties and citizens to join us in this - said the SDP members led by president Dražen Đaković.
