HSLS Update

On Saturday's convention Marija Fićurin failed in her bid to become first chairwoman of HSLS. The top spot came, as expected, to Varaždin (Varazdin) mayor Ivan Čehok (Ivan Cehok) who had won overwhelming majority of delegates. Fićurin came distant third, with another challenger Dražen Breglec (Drazen Breglec) winning 2nd place.

Čehok next day appeared in Nedjeljom u 2 talk-show on Croatian state television. I didn't watch most of the show, but I liked his healthy Euroscepticism – unlike most of Croatian politicians who see Croatian entry into EU as some kind of self-explanatory historical obligation and necessity, Čehok asks heretical questions about economic benefits of such move. Of course, all this might be nothing more than cheap Europhobic right-wing demagoguery since Čehok (despite some attempts to portray him as modern centre-oriented politician that would reinvigorate Croatian centre parties and liberal ideology) currently belongs to the right-wing of Croatian politics. Čehok enjoys reputation of moderniser mostly due to his physical appearance –shoulde-length hair and long beard – which make him look "hip" compared to his stiff-upper-lip and conservative predecessor Dražen Budiša, while few appreciate his tenure of Varaždin mayor which allowed his party to keep enough votes for Čehok to win a Sabor seat in November. Most of the commentators (who, unlike me, had seen the show in its entirety) didn't like Čehok's debut in Nedjeljom u 2. Voters in Osijek-Baranja County weren't impressed either, judging by the results.