Nobody and Budisa
by Prof. Ivo Banac
Feral Tribune, Split, Croatia, September 1 1997
My interview in the weekly Feral Tribune given on August 25 gave Nenad
Ivankovic [editor-in-chief of the state controlled daily "Vjesnik"] and
Drazen Budisa [a leading politician from the Croatian Social Liberal Party,
or HSLS] a reason to spill out everything that was lying
on their hearts. Nenad Ivankovic was troubled by how to handle the
statements on the basis of which the Public Prosecutor's Office suggested
that an investigation be conducted against Dobroslav Paraga and Ivan
Zvonimir Cicak, and which Drazen Budisa happily received in order to
accuse me for that in which no one can match him. But let us start from the
beginning.
The main point of my statements made in Feral referred to a detailed
elaboration of the same claims (the tape recording from Karadordevo,
Tudman's statement in support of a division of Bosnia, Tudman's
responsibility for the Bosnian tragedy) for which the Public Prosecutor
decided to initiate an investigation against Cicak and Paraga. That is why
Nenad Ivankovic, who has lately been using the shaky anonymity of an
editorial article (by writing "R.I." at the bottom) decided (that is, those
above
him decided for him) to take a side-swing at me as well, hoping to
demonstrate that I am utterly insignificant, since they cannot do anything
more sinister. And this is how it was in his article on August 26 under the
title "The Harlequins of Croatian Politics".
Political Harlequins
Yet, we should not ignore this classical article since it offers
sociological
insight into the nature of Tudman's system. Our famous "R.I." was seeking a
formal reason to respond to a man (that is myself) whose words "almost
nobody takes seriously anymore". This excludes the Public Prosecutor, but
not the famous "R.I." since he is literally nobody. Let us give him a
capital N.
And so, Nobody decided that I am "the harlequin of Croatian politics". But
it
could have, alas, been different just as well. Can you imagine all that
Nobody
would have accomplished had he possessed the hidden aces of "the historian
Ivo Banac", because he "had a good chance and could have integrated into
Croatian society; if he is against official policies, he could have at least
been
in the normal opposition". Thus, Nobody decides what is Croatian
society, who can integrate into it and who has already done so.
Croatian society is where Nobody can be found. And the normal
opposition is that with which Nobody talks.
I admit that Nobody never interested me, and this is why I am perfectly
content in belonging to the abnormal opposition with Cicak, Paraga, Feral,
etc. instead of the normal one with Budisa and Tomac. zith this I have shed
the seriousness which only Nobody can give me, because I can be serious,
smart and important only in his company. Yet, look, a miracle! Nobody
still covers only Croatia. Abroad the rules of the game are completely
different! "Maybe Banac's words find a better audience somewhere abroad,
but this is not so relevant for this story". That much is clear at least.
Nobody
thinks that he has turned the zorld upside down since d can we make this
observation d he meditates on his head. Now we have learned the right way
to read "Vjesnik". Upside down.
Hopefully the Hague Will Not Need It
In the final portion of his article Nobody cites the welldknown nonsense
about the sodcalled "Letter of the Six" (freedom of speech works upside
down as well), makes up that I was against the military operation "Storm"
(although it is welldknown that I have always been for a military operation
against the greater-Serbian military forces, but not for the persecution
and crimes against innocent civilians, the elderly and children). He also
makes up that I have accused the Catholic Church in connection with
the "Storm", although
it is not clear why this should concern him so much. To clarify, Nobody was
officially in charge of the war against the Church at a time when Divko
Kustic did not have access to Vjesnik. All in all, Kustic and the portion of
the
clergy which did not notice all the additional consequences of the "Storm"
are not, for me, the Catholic Church. By the way, the number of civilian
victims of the "Storm" and the "Flash" do not necessarily have to be
estimated on the basis of the wellddocumented data of the Helsinki
Committee. Human rights activists know very well that official statistics
exist
as well, but they also know that they are closely guarded, by those that
hope
the Hague will not need them.
However, the climax of the harlequin show is the claim that "I stifle any
optimism". (Nobody is, on the other hand, currently in charge of producing
optimism). And, moreover, I do this while hiding behind the position of "an
independent intellectual". The fact that Nobody and his people cannot
influence me, that I am totally independent from them, really "bothers the
most".
Nobody is very apt in sketching out the operational basis of
tudmanology. However, he is correct in one thing. People like myself, who
have all their life carried within them the idea of a democratic Croatian
society, really are in a battle against all. ze really do want to change our
unhappy present and, in this, we clash not only with the upholders of the
system but also with those who want to strike a deal with them or those who
are ready to move to the side. This is a good lead into the issue of Drazen
Budisa. The "normal" opposition believes that we are really living in a
normal
society, in which good will and a codoperative spirit will be able to
overcome
any negative features. This sort of "an opposition" allowed itself to be
"normalised" in the same way that Czechoslovakia was "normalised" after
1968 or, not to go to far from home, Croatia after 1971.
The Dapization of the Liberals
I remember well Budisa's fears of the possible radicalisation of the masses
toward the end of the seventies. He feared that the well-founded anger of
the
hard-working ordinary person might spill over, that "the little people",
like
the personnel of the National and University Library (NSB), where he
worked at that time, would confront the supporters of the regime and, thus,
create an extremely unstable situation. Nothing of this sort happened, but
his
view on this issue did not change. This is why, today, he is for the
dapization
of the HSLS and why he is using the guise of a party veteran in order to
fight
against newcomers with a quite different approach. Yet, this is merely an
excuse. He is the one who created the unbearable situation in the HSLS. For
more than one year he has been trying to bring the HSLS into a coalition with the
HDZ, which has fundamentally polarised the ranks of this previously welld
established party. The question was really about the life and death of the
party. It was necessary to say "no" to this and this was the only rationale
for
my joining the HSLS.
Personally I do not have any illusions about making any relevant changes to
the current division of power within the HSLS. I am not a party activist, I
am
not active in the party ranks, and, therefore, I can have a limited
influence
and this only through transmission of the written word. Yet, even this
was too much for the "normal" Budisa. He is afraid of giving any
responsibility for the integrity of Croatian liberalism to "abnormal"
people,
and this is why he is acting as though I can seriously endanger his network
of
"normal" relations and dependencies. Furthermore, he sees in my efforts an
opportune moment to frighten the party ranks with "a conspiracy of the
HHO" and other recognisable manipulations. Here Nobody and Budisa have
the same mission. This is where we find the rationale for
Budisa's
absurd claim that it is really I who is destroying the HSLS, and that I have
thought up a "plan for creating a division within the HSLS".
"Small" Party
Instead of new disputes with Budisa and "the five", which I really do not
want and which does not make any sense at all, I will conclude with the
following: the party membership will decide whether the HSLS will be a
"normal", "relevant" or pseudodparty, or whether it will join the "abnormal"
project of fighting for a social and liberal Croatia. Budisa thinks he
already has his mands on a "small" party, with which he will
delude himself and others. However, parties are not a purpose in and of
themselves. Parties are like means of transportation which take you from
point A to point B.
And if they do not run anymore or if they run badly, they should be changed
or new ones should be created. Sooner or later, Croatia will really become a
standard (that it "abnormal") European country. The question is only how
much longer we will now have to wait - not because of Nobody but
because of Budisa.
Translated by CHC for Human Rights
Zagreb, September 4, 1997
