Former political secretary of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Economy Minister in the Ivo Sanader cabinet Branko Vukelic has left the HDZ party and will remain in parliament as an independent deputy.
Vukelic informed the media of his decision on Thursday morning in a press release which included a memo dated 26 February forwarded to the HDZ headquarters and party president Tomislav Karamarko,
Vukelic said he was leaving the party after more than 22 years of being a member because in his opinion the leadership was leading the party in an entirely wrong direction, adding that relations among party colleagues were filled with fear, threats, blackmails, censorship and replacements of those politically unfit.
