The Croatian affinity for gossiping and the Croatian historic tragedy caused by envy were certainly fertile fields for newspapers where one could find naughty darts against fellow residents, neighbors, acquaintances, or adversaries. As I wrote last week, that horrible moment in the twelfth century when Croats handed over their independence to a Hungarian newcomer, only because they could not bear the thought that one among them would rule over others, sounds like it was described today in some intelligent and measured newspaper, which would analyze the current political situation. Unfortunately, there is no such paper, since all the media have remained in the hands of those who were journalists under Communism [incidentally, Ms. Freundlich is one of them].
The fact that the Croatian media in the sovereign Croatia have been left to journalists who came of age in the Communist Yugoslavia, does not mean that those same journalists have abandoned their old political views. The politics then was very simple. Its name was "Yugoslavia". These people were "educated" through "youth media" like "Polet" (a youth newspaper with "progressive" views) and at Communist Party universities such as the Faculty for Political Sciences in Zagreb, so they could one day take over the leading political positions in Yugoslavia.
Contrary to the independent Croatia, Yugoslavia knew all too well the value and influence of the media on the public opinion and public attitudes. Hence it was very careful to exclude those who were not supporters of "brotherhood and unity" into the media. When this did happen, such "foreign elements" were removed with a swift blow.
Yugoslavia also knew all too well the value of grooming the young party officials for future perpetuation of the Party and its magical circle of benefits, power and rule of fear. In Yugoslav journalism, with the exception of a few "undesirable" historic years, the only policies allowed were centralist Yugoslav, Communist, and greater Serbian. How could those same people and their students, for whom they carefully looked after in "Polet", change their political convictions after 1990? Did they suddenly change their political thinking in 1990 and become Croatian patriots or defenders of Croatian independence and freedom? Why should they?
Well, let's leave Yugoslavia and return to Croatia. Today the newspapers published by Communist Party journalists have successfully stuffed the spiritual space with garbage. They are overflowing with hate toward everything created by the Croatian state. Moreover, they satisfy the tragic Croatian characteristics of self-loathing and disunity.
For some reason, Croats like to think poorly of themselves. These passionate readers were quickly joined by politicians. Especially those in the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). This world of public gossip and accusation seemed to them, with its diabolical attraction, to be something modern, something cutesy, something titillating. They could not resist this titillation. This, it seemed to them, was modern politics.
Many among them are inexperienced, most of them victims of the dark Yugoslav methods of political isolation. They believed that the "former" experienced Communist Party members would "help" them; they wanted to be modern and participate in politics with their own occasional plot or two; they believed that their own political career would best be assisted if they "revealed" a negative bit of gossip or two about a party colleague. In the possible political elimination of such a party adversary they saw a path to self-promotion. The said party colleague, hurt by the published information, could not resist a reply to the media slander.
This is how the chain of public statements, mutual accusations, and secretive delivery of information to Communist "tabloid" papers, began in HDZ. Individual politicians, who were themselves naive, were convinced they were clever by taking advantage of the tabloids for their own promotion: they embarked on a grand voyage of professional achievement in international politics; their intrigues are actually real politics; thanks to "friendly" journalists from "Globus", "Nacional" or "Novi list" (non-government periodicals and dailies) they have become "skilled" politicians.
Those politicians, as naive as they were, soon felt the same "skills" hitting them back in the head, but that would be attributed to the cunning of their adversaries, never being the fault of the professional expertise of the communist journalists, defenders of Yugoslavia. As naive as they were, they did not know how to stop, even after the party decided to forbid statements to communist papers. Naive as they were, they could not understand that they were being taken advantage of, used, not only against their own party - which would be the least of all evils - but against the idea of an independent Croatia, as it was constantly compromised by their statements. Naive as they were they did not comprehend that by throwing mud at their party, they were throwing mud at the idea of Croatian statehood, which was the key element of their party. Naive as they were, they forgot that the leaders of the communists, hiding behind today's Social Democratic Party (SDP), in the past claimed that the idea of an independent Croatia was a "dangerous intention" and that still by the end of 1991 they were thundering in the parliament about the dangers of severing ties with Yugoslavia. Naive as they were, they did not notice how the same newspapers to which they gave their statements were dedicated to writing about the criminal nature of the Croatian fight for freedom, how in those same papers the situation in Yugoslavia was being closely followed and interviews with famous Yugoslavs were published, in order not to sever "all ties with Yugoslavia".
The media raised in Party schools were expertly and professionally taking advantage of the naivety and non-preparedness of new Croatian politicians. Of course, the fact that what was written in the Communist papers could not decrease the magnitude of committed errors or the political non-discipline of those amateur politicians.
All those who accepted the new Croatia as a money-cow, who valued their own interests more than the Croatian national success, were a disappointment to their people, which elected them to fight for a free, independent, firm, democratic and successful Croatia. Regardless of the mistakes the tabloids wrote about them. The fact that Communist press wrote about their mistakes does not diminish their negative effect. All those who did not on time recognize the role of the Party newspapers in the Croatian public and the role of Party people in new democratic parties, and treated misuses with gullibility and naivety, could have caused long term damage.
Today the Party fighters apparently feel their mud slinging mission is complete. Believing they have nothing more to say on the topic, they claim to have raised public hatred toward HDZ to the level needed to hate anything in connection with the independent Croatian state. Still, something is constantly bothering them. Because of that they want elections right now, as they are not certain how much longer their constant propaganda can be effective. They would like an early election, not only because they think that HDZ has never been weaker and more hated since its founding, but because they are not certain whether or not Croats will come out of their intoxication with negative Yugoslav slogans against the Croatian state.
Those divine scenes of Croatian unity over the trivialities such as soccer make the Yugoslav wannabe fighters impatient to suffocate this Croatian statehood frame of mind as soon as possible, before it finds a new form of expression - inside or outside of HDZ - before it finds a new strength and new formula for the future.
That group of people often called "voters", who are often considered a mass without shape or real intelligence, is fed up and disgusted with everything they see in political life. The waves of gossip constantly thrashing against them for the last eight years have finally exhausted them. In spite of communist expectations that constant mud flinging would cause a revolt, a revolution, coup d'etat of the party that, according to communist understanding, has "dangerous intentions" against the Croatian state, the "voters" have simply become tired. In their fatigue, they first stop reading the newspapers which bring them the mud. However, even if they continue to read them, in their conscience a completely new need begins to develop, different to that expected by the communists. Croats begin to look for new and fresh politicians. The communists, obviously, have nothing new to offer. The biggest weakness of HDZ on the campaign trail are the former communists that joined their ranks as a career move.
Today voters want something completely new from what they wanted in 1988 and 1990. They are no longer looking for reformed communists, who could in 1988 offer loosening and softening of Yugoslav chains or a theoretical break with the greater Serbian communism of Slobodan Milosevic.
Today people are not looking for the establishment of an independent Croatian state where freedom would be guaranteed. Today Croatian voters are looking for the secure survival of Croatian freedom, they are looking for personal freedom, a living standard; they are looking for pride and dignity of their politicians. Furthermore, they are looking for young and modern people who never had anything to do with communism or were leaders in that system. Today voters, as opposed to blinded politicians, do not ask themselves questions whether there will be an early election or not. They are thinking whether or not there will be any good candidates running in the election, whenever it may be.