Six councilors from Mufić's list have requested an urgent convening of the 9th City Council session, warning that delays jeopardize key infrastructure projects worth hundreds of thousands of euros.
Political instability in Vrbovsko continues with a new request to convene a session of the City Council. Six councilors from Mayor Dražen Mufić's list submitted a formal request on Thursday, August 6, 2026, to the President of the City Council, Saša Burić, to hold the 9th session. In doing so, they exercised the legal right belonging to one-third of the members of the thirteen-member council.
The request was signed by Jasna Božić, Nikolina Mamula, Dražen Domitrović, Borivoj Dokmanović, Josip Beljan, and Mario Tkalčević. In their explanation, they emphasize that postponing the session until the end of August or the beginning of September could seriously jeopardize or completely prevent the realization of several important projects.
In the request, the councilors specifically warn about the problem of paving the second lane of Ivana Gorana Kovačića Street, which is to be financed with joint funds from the utility company ViK Rijeka and the City of Vrbovsko. If the planned capital assistance of €85,000 is not approved, there will be no paving, only the repair of 52 road cuts.
Additionally, the list of endangered projects includes the installation of photovoltaic power plants on the kindergarten and city administration buildings, road paving, equipping the kindergarten, and the development of a children's playground in Severin na Kupi. For most of these projects, co-financing agreements have already been signed with the relevant ministries. "It is important to note that for many of these projects, open public procurement procedures must be conducted, which take up to two months from the announcement to the signing of the contract," the councilors from Mufić's list stated in their request.
Mayor Dražen Mufić stated that he will not allow further delays. "According to the law, the President of the City Council must convene a session within 15 days of receiving the request. If he fails to do so, then I am legally allowed to convene it," Mufić said for Novi list.
He added that he expects Burić to wait the full legal deadline but announced a concrete plan: "I will do that, and I will do it the very next day, that is, after those 15 days expire, because Mr. Burić will certainly wait those fifteen days to further block us. However, by August 20 at the latest, that session will be held."
Mufić emphasized that even that date is already too late for a quality start to project implementation, recalling that July 23 was also relatively late. "The session will be held, and if they come, let them vote however they please and clarify their positions. That's what elections are for, and that's what City Council sessions are for, which they, and I am sure the vast majority of their voters disagree with, avoid," the mayor said.
The political situation was further complicated by Arsen Vukušić, Vice President of the City Council and councilor from MOST, who addressed the public regarding the postponed session on July 30, 2026. "What I particularly want to emphasize is that I am not responsible for the non-holding of the City Council session on July 30. I was not ill, I did not request a postponement of the session, nor was I against its holding. That day, I was at my workplace," Vukušić stated.
He stressed that the President of the City Council publicly stated that a number of councilors could not attend due to illness, but he claims that his name is not on that list. "Therefore, I reject the attempt to hold me responsible for the possible delay in paving or the continuation of works," he said.
Vukušić also reminded that the project of reconstructing the water supply network and building the wastewater drainage system for the Vrbovsko agglomeration has been delayed for some time, given that it was supposed to be completed by December 31, 2025. "Because of that, it is not fair to create the impression that one unheld City Council session is the cause of all delays, or that I am the one responsible for a situation that has been ongoing for a long time," Vukušić concluded.
President of the City Council, Saša Burić, confirmed that he received the request and announced that he would convene the session, adding that he would have done so even without the formal request from the councilors. "The real state of affairs is that some councilors were ill and that is why we postponed the session. I planned to convene it in the coming days, so it will be convened even before the deadline the mayor anticipates," Burić said for Novi list.
