On November 26, the Croatian Social-Democratic Party (SDP), the country’s leading left formation, got a new leader. In the second round of party elections, Davor Bernandić, leader of the Zagreb branch, crushed his opponent, Ranko Ostojić, former minister of internal affairs, with well over 60 percent of the vote.

But Bernandić has little reason to celebrate. The party over which he now presides is in a dreadful state. Since the most recent election in September — which saw the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) take first place — it’s lost 150,000 voters. And less than half of the party’s members participated in the leadership vote.

During the campaign, most candidates advocated a “return to real social democracy” and the working class. Unfortunately, with the exception of Karolina Leaković — who called for a Jeremy Corbyn–like turn in the party, but won less than 1 percent in the first round of voting — these were empty populist slogans. And members, well aware that their party has become a social-democratic formation in name only, seemed to see the rhetoric as just that.