UNITED WAR

Feral Tribune, Split, Croatia, July 12, 1999

Formally, these four political parties have declared themselves to be heirs of the victorious Rijeka coalition Obitelj [Family], implying that they would like to include the two parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Primorje-Gora Alliance (PGS), that were the pillar of that coalition. However, the founding of the new block is actually a reply to the announced alliance between SDP, the Croatian Liberal Social Party (HSLS) and PGS in the Rijeka region. The new alliance adds a new party to the Family, while dropping as many as three of its previous members. A day before the "Rijeka Four" issued its announcement, leader of one of the four political parties bitterly stated for Feral that SDP and HSLS have by this action inflicted a so far worst blow against the unity of the opposition six [SDP, HSLS, HSS, IDS, LS, and HNS].

"We were not consulted at all," he said. Furthermore, there was no explanation nor a warning of any kind. That implies that similar alliances can be expected in other parts of the country. On the other hand, one of the leaders of SDP confided to this journalist that it is by now obvious that the opposition will contest the upcoming elections in two coalitions. He calmly confirmed that SDP and HSLS will soon announce their alliance in the Osijek region (this time together with the regional party SBSH). Therefore, it is becoming clear that Croatia will soon be covered by a whole network of regional political alliances. Unfortunately, these alliances are not the result of a division of the political scene, but rather an indicator that such a division is lacking.

However, that division will not always be so sharp that it will be possible to identify two well-defined and separate blocks. The example from Trogir, where HSLS formed an alliance with the Croatian Peasants' Party [HSS], or another, completely unnoticed one from the Orle municipality in Turopolje, where SDP and HSS formed an alliance thus ending many years long domination of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) [ruling party in Croatia], confirm that. However, both cases were based either on the remnants of previous coalitions or took place in too remote electoral localities to indicate that these poligamous political marriages will survive in significant numbers until the general election.

On the contrary, the last preparations to replace this unruly polygamy with a pure and unblemished monogamy are now taking place. SDP will soon make a decision about the alliance with HSLS and, according to rumors, Budisa's party has already made a similar decision and is only waiting for SDP to make a simultaneous announcement. The irony is that the new arrangement goes against the political "philosophy" of both parties, and especially of HSLS.

Until recently, Budisa stridently defended autonomy of local party organizations, which was one of the reasons for his split with Gotovac. Now, however, the alliance of SDP and HSLS will obviously be forced upon the local branches of both parties regardless of what they think about it. An example for this is recently declared opposition of Slavko Linic [SDP's leading politician and mayor of Rijeka] to the candidacy of "Dundovic, as a HSLS candidate". Obviously, this was a message to Budisa and indirectly to Racan that Linic does not intend to tie his fate to that of "the man who has destroyed the Port of Rijeka Corporation" and, what's more important, is a great electoral looser.

And that is the punch line of this story. If HDZ is thinking whether to win by destroying in its wake even the little good that the opposition has managed to create so far, it is more likely that the opposition will defeat itself first.