LEGION OF PARTIES

It seems that only the State Department still doesn't understand that the Croatian opposition doesn't need cohabitation with HDZ any more. A claim appeared in a prestigious American newspaper that the US welcomed the opposition's victory, but they still support Mate Granic. The American embassy in Zagreb promptly issued a formal denial, in which it is stated that the US doesn't support any presidential candidate, as "the Croatian people doesn't need any help or advice". A superior victory of the six, which could be crowned in the presidential elections, opened a problem that cannot be ignored: who will be the opposition in that case?!

by Marinko CULIC

Feral Tribune, Split, Croatia, January 10 2000

There is a very obvious symbolism in the fact that the collective feelings of the HDZ supporters after the electoral defeat were best expressed by the late President' s personal clown, who defended his expensive performances at the Presidential Court with a baseball bat, when nothing else worked. I feel "as if I've lost my country", whined Ciro Blazevic [coach of the Croatian national soccer team] loudly and inconsolably these days, as if some horrible earthquake has destroyed his own house, which Croatia certainly was for the most successful HDZ's supporters.

They spread all over it, convinced that this little piece of Europe had been given to them by God's mercy, so that they could do an important job there for a royal compensation. That job was to bury one rotten communist federation and lead Croatia into the Eden of post-communism and modern capitalism, in which some of them lived as guests-immigrants for decades, but about which they learnt absolutely nothing. But, the voters immediately believed them, and it would be hard to swear even now that they judged them fully aware that everything was only a great lie of small-scale swindlers.

But, there were too many lies. The defencive war against the Serb-communist aggressor, which bore some suspicious freedom for the Croats, and a lot of obvious lack of freedom for all the others, especially Serbs and Muslims, was a lie. Another deceit was a short-term flirtation with Western rhetoric, which served to cover up a long-term adoption the old discipline in all the areas of the public, cultural, sport and entertainment life. Just as the transition from the non-party "pluralism" into a "multi-party" monism was a lie.

AT THE EDGE OF ABYSS

And finally, the claim that the socially responsible capitalism took the place of the economically irresponsible socialism was false, and its consequences the most painful. In the end, that pile of lies became so high that it threatened to bury the whole country, and the worst thing is that this danger is still not excluded. It will take at least a year or two to be in a position to announce with certainty the end of that danger, and till then, it will choose to fall on the heads of those who didn't do anything wrong, apart from several elections in which they circled the wrong names, that is, voted for the directors of the catastrophe they are now facing.

Those same directors, however, are already leaveing the Ministries and other governmental institutions, which were the best place to direct the country towards destruction, and it seems that the HDZ's [the Croatian Democratic Union, ruling party in Croatia between 1990-2000] most important people in the media will run away just as quickly. None of the HDZ's media giants, with only one exception, attended the last week's session of the Chief Board of the party, in which they had to chose between a single presidential candidate supported by all the warring factions and the instant destruction. These people have taken part in all their meetings until now; however, they were not there at the last one, the one that got a bit too close to the edge of the abyss. As if sensing a scandal, Feral sent four journalists there, convinced that someone nevertheless had to place a wreath on the grave of this Croatian political disgrace. However, the final burial ceremony didn't happen this time, or maybe it was only postponed for some other occasion, as the party-movement managed to stop its definite disaster at the last moment. However, everything smelled of some previous schisms that were stopped only thanks to an authoritative intervention by Franjo Tudjman, but on the other hand, these conflicts were simply filed away until some future time, that is now inevitably coming.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FIASCO

[Vladimir] Seks was in the centre of attention once again, as he asked, through his main bully Branimir Glavas, for the resignations of the HDZ leadership (allegedly because of the electoral fiasco of the party, but actually because he had lost majority to Granic and Pasalic). This opened a possibility for Seks to ride with his Slavonian cavalry into the conference hall at the Zagreb Fair and rout the party. He would keep for himself maybe not more than a solid minority, but this would be enough for the threatening manoeuvres in front of the winning coalition's nose.

This would have certainly completely destroyed the plans of the HDZ "liberals", who have multiplied these days and crammed into Granic's lap. It seems that they believe that only the Little Priest [Mate Granic] can save them from the sins they were committing during the last decade (Granic explained away the defeat with "presumption and arrogance" of the HDZ politicians, and showed clearly with this that he considered the extremist wing of his party the main obstacle to his success in the presidential elections).

That's how a compromise was patched up at the edge of the abyss, according to which the decimated party leans on the axis Granic (the presidential candidate) - Seks (acting President of HDZ). In such an arrangement, there's no place for Pasalic any more. Burdened with a mortgage of plundering and intelligence affairs, that now the rival factions of the party mention not less frequently than the "tabloids" did it till yesterday, he finally dropped out of the circle of the most privileged, and got a role of a lubricant which should enable the Granic-Seks axis to work off the forthcoming elections without creaking and getting stuck.

No matter how unpromising Pasalic's position might seem, the fact is that the electoral defeat suited him, just as it suited Seks. It was the only way for them to keep control over HDZ, the party that more than ever needs such designers of destruction-reconstruction, who first brought it into disorder, but then were the only ones capable of creating from the fragments something that still reminds one of a party.

In opposition to this, Mate Granic went through a difficult defeat in the elections, regardless of the support that the party gives him now, in the last try to preserve at least one instance of power in the presidential elections.

CONSERVATIVE MONTGOMERY

He will take part in these elections in a completely different position. Mesic, and especially Budisa [leader of the Croatian Social Liberal Party] did very good in the elections, so that it seems that only the State Department still doesn't understand that the opposition doesn't need cohabitation with HDZ any more (which is affirmed by the strong and open support of SDP to Budisa as "their candidate").

A claim appeared in a prestigious American newspaper that the US welcomed the opposition's victory, but that they still support Granic. However, the American embassy in Zagreb promptly issued an official denial, in which it is stated that the US don't support any of the presidential candidates, as "the Croatian people doesn't need any help or advice".

It is rather possible that an intervention of a leader of the winning coalition had something to do with this denial; allegedly, Racan [leader of the Social-Democratic Party] and Montgomery had a rather intimate and long dinner; however, we shouldn't put too much trust in the achievements of such cutlery-diplomacy. It is not impossible that the US estimated, possibly based on the suggestions of rather conservative Montgomery, that a completely "left-wing" Government in Croatia would unnecessarily unify the situation on the European continent. And this makes Americans nervously fidget, regardless of their current ideological preferences, as such Europe simply becomes too independent.

This appeared to be true, as Europe only congratulated the Croatian opposition, without any additional wishes about Granic. However, a superior victory of the six, if crowned in the presidential elections, would open a problem that cannot be ignored, regardless of the American clumsiness. Who would then be the Croatian opposition?! A complete triumph of the former opposition would inevitably bring to breakdown of HDZ. Although some of its factions would certainly survive as independent parties, it would take them some time to learn how to control the ruling party instead of one another.

SEVENTH PARTY

The truth is that the four opposition parties (HSS [the Croatian Peasant Party], LS [the Liberal Party], IDS [the Istrian Democratic Assembly] and HNS [the Croatian People's Party]) make a potential opposition to the SDP-HSLS [the Social-Democratic Party and the Croatian Social Liberal Party] duo. But their too early separation would endanger the planned changes of the political system of the country that will probably depend on the solid two-thirds majority in the Parliament for the whole year. Along with this, the premature separation of the six would let down the expectations of the main protagonist of the elections, the citizens who imposed themselves as the seventh party (that's why it is hard to understand why the electoral winners still haven't thanked the Vote 99, GONG, and others, that can be considered the informal leadership of that seventh party).

It might happen that Croatia once again gets what it had to put up with during the last decade. A strong power and a weak opposition. Mate Granic already plays that card, and offers himself as a presidential counter-weight to the parliamentary majority, but someone who took part in destroying the multi-party system shouldn't count on a mandate of it's guardian angel. In that case, a much wiser thing would be to wait for a new opposition to be born spontaneously, and fill the gap with the non-governmental organisations, independent press (within the limits of their possibilities), that is, those that never tried, nor will do that now, to win power, or become an opposition.

Translated by Feral Tribune