High Positions and Lack of Class

Sabor has just given the annual awards for promotion of democratic values. One of the recipients is not problematic – GONG, non-governmental organisation specialised in monitoring of elections. However, the other two recipients are, since they happen to be members of the very same body that awarded them – Sabor.

The first one is Vlatko Pavletić (Vlatko Pavletic), last of Tudjman's Sabor speakers, man who acted as President in the period between Tudjman's death and 2000 elections. Sabor members obviously think that he did incredibly good job by simply following Constitution and allowing them to get to their beloved seats without having to resort to revolutionary methods.

Another is Bolta Jalšovec (Bolta Jalsovec), Sabor veteran and the only man in Croatian Parliament with steady job since the days of Communism. Although never a member of Račan's (Racan's) party, he had in Communist-era Sabor, was elected in 1990 and in 1992 managed to keep his seat as a member of Budiša's (Budisa's) HSLS. Lately he found personal sympathies for the losing side in WW2 and became prominent figure on Bleiburg memorials, during which he had publicly lauded Pavelić's (Pavelic's) soldiers as creators of modern Croatian state.

Needless to say, only two MSes voted against them.

Croatian right wing should be quite content with the choice of recipient, but even more delighted with those who lost. The biggest loser is President Stipe Mesić (Stipe Mesic) who was nominated only to lose because MSes from governing coalition decided not to back him.

Well, if this Sabor considers itself, especially its right-wing part, as the country's greater promoter of democratic values, it only follows Tudjman's path. Late President in 1990, only couple of months after coming to power, proclaimed Croatia to be "the most democratic nation in the world". Needless to say, ten years later Croatian voters disagreed. I just hope that they wouldn't need that much time to express their disagreements with this bunch.