A new parliamentary group was formed on Friday, comprising 18 former Social Democratic Party (SDP) members. It will be called the Social Democrats Group and chaired by Domagoj Hajdukovic, until recently a member of the SDP Presidency.

The SDP Presidency yesterday expelled seven MPs from the party, including former party president Davor Bernardic, after expelling four MPs this past summer.

The new parliamentary group said that for now they were not thinking about forming a party.

The new group’s 18 MPs had signed a request that Rajko Ostojic, Niksa Vukas, Zvane Brumnic and Marina Opacak-Bilic, expelled from the SDP last summer, should remain in the SDP parliamentary group.

The Social Democrats Group consists of Hajdukovic, Ostojic, Vukas, Brumnic, Opacak-Bilic, Ivana Posavec-Krivec, Bernardic, Erik Fabijanic, Katica Glamuzina, Matko Kuzmanic, Vesna Nadj, Romana Nikolic, Zeljko Pavic, Renata Sabljar-Dracevac, Irena Simunic, Davorko Vidovic, Franko Vidovic, and Sanja Udovic.

Vidovic: Biggest opposition party is dethroning itself

“Forming a new group was not the intention of any of us. We were forced to do it so that we could work normally and perform the mission we have as members of parliament as successfully as possible,” said Vidovic.

Grbin: MPs were expelled out of common sense

SDP leader Pedja Grbin said the expelled SDP members were not expelled from the party over criminal speech but out of common sense.

He told the press they were expelled because they would not carry out the leadership’s decisions and because they disparaged the leadership in public, whereby they damaged the party.

The SDP parliamentary group will now have 14 deputies.