The three-member political group of the Pametno (Smart) and Mozemo! parties in the Split City Council said on Tuesday they were suspending their cooperation with Mayor Ivica Puljak because his deputy Bojan Ivosevic had not stepped down after being indicted for threatening a journalist.

“Given that the Mayor has never once consulted us on this matter, even though we made it clear that we would not continue to support Ivosevic as Deputy Mayor in the case of an indictment, we are suspending our cooperation until further notice,” the Pametno for Split and Dalmatia party said.

It warned that the indictment had overshadowed all issues of importance to Split and that it believed Puljak was capable of taking over all of Ivosevic’s duties and implementing what he had been elected for.

Mozemo! criticised the city authorities for not taking a stand on this matter even a week after the indictment was announced and indicating further steps in the event that the indictment was confirmed. “Our position is clear: if the indictment is confirmed, the Deputy Mayor should step down,” it said.

Last week, Ivosevic was charged with threatening Nikolina Lulic, editor of the regional Slobodna Dalmacija daily, because he was dissatisfied with articles about him and his family published by the newspaper.

On Tuesday, the Split branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) insisted on the resignation of Mayor Ivica Puljak, too, over this case.