DOK GOSPODNU KOBLERU NEDOSTAJE JOŠ JEDNA POLITIČKA OPOZICIJA , OVOJ ZEMLJI NEDOSTAJE DA NJENE STVARALAĆKE SNAGE PONOVNO PREUZMU SVE NJENO BOGATSVO U SVOJ ZAKONITI POSIJED

BY JURICA KÖRBLER Can only "We" be in opposition to HDZ and the right? 28.08.2020 22:00 There is no real opposition in Croatia at the moment. The HDZ rules sovereignly, without any competition, and everyone, from HDZ members to members of allegedly opposition parties, agrees that no one can compete with Andrej Plenković. If he wants to and if the stars match that way, from this perspective he could stay in power until retirement. And, as soon as there is no serious opposition, the danger to democracy is huge, because even the media cannot correct the mistakes of the ruling THE TEXT CONTINUES AFTER THE AD Sponsored content The best family shopping is waiting for you in the Top Shop. Grab -20% off all retail prices today! Midas - Native Internet Advertising All that has been happening with the crown in Croatia in recent days in all countries where democratic traditions are developed would provoke a series of debates between the ruling party and the opposition. At least the opposition would ask how it is possible that unseen decisions of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, as in the case of those made in Croatia, could destroy the tourist season for trivial reasons, allowing nightclubs from which the virus spread. Now we are where we are. The full season has been interrupted, there will hardly be anything from the post-season, the south of Croatia is in an alarming state, and the question is how the school year will start in these circumstances. There is silence about all this in Croatia. Except for a few journalists, no one from the ranks of opposition politicians asks meaningful questions. At the same time, the INA plant in Sisak is shutting down, we learn through a mysteriously recorded telephone conversation that staffing is taking place in Croatian hospitals, and only five months after the earthquake in Zagreb, an attempt is being made to pass a law on reconstruction. The billions from Europe with which they showered us before the elections are still not arriving and in that and such an atmosphere we are looking forward to autumn, which will undoubtedly be 'warmer' than summer. And, as things stand now, there is no real opposition in Croatia at the moment. The HDZ rules sovereignly, without any competition, and everyone, from HDZ members to members of allegedly opposition parties, agrees that no one can compete with Andrej Plenković. If he wants to and if the stars match that way, from this perspective he could stay in power until retirement. And, as soon as there is no serious opposition, the danger for democracy is huge, because even the media cannot correct the mistakes of the ruling party. It has never been like this in Croatia. Not even during the time of Franjo Tudjman and the sinking of the SDP. Even then, a fragile opposition was formed, which in the end, as in the case of Ivica Račan, took responsibility for running the country. While Tudjman ruled the Croatian political scene, no one could question the political weight of Ivica Racan, as the leader of the opposition, because he was extremely appreciated by the Croatian president himself. He was also appreciated by Ivo Sanader and the opposition has always had credibility in the person of Racan. Today, there is no one in sight who would be up to Andrej Plenković's knees at all. And the SDP is sinking day by day and it is now quite clear that there will be nothing from the party even after the elections, if at least Ranko Ostojić does not join the election race at the last moment. Everyone else is extremely pale and unrecognizable, they are not at the level of leading small parties, let alone the main opposition party, which aims to overthrow the HDZ in the next elections. All that has been heard so far in the pre-campaign for the head of the SDP is sad, that it could not be sadder. It is ugly to underestimate smaller cities and areas, but it is quite clear that those who would like to compete with Plenković tomorrow cannot have only 'successes' in building local roads. And the most tragic thing in all is that all those who have so far shown ambitions to lead the SDP are terribly phrasing and cannot escape repeating empty promises that even the most loyal SDP members know will not be realized. So, nothing from the SDP. Two arms of the opposition remain, the right, led by Skoro, and the left, which is in the hands of "We Can". It is visible for the right wing that it was worn out before the real parliamentary battle began and that Miroslav Škoro is no longer a rising political star. Conversely, its glow is dark, and it is only a matter of days when the motley society will scatter in all directions. Croatia is tired of the right-wing, Ustasha nostalgia and iconography that would be permanently banned in any civilized country. It remains "We can". And the question of whether "We Can" can become the only and real alternative to the HDZ, which is still far from the center-right. Judging by what we have heard and seen so far, the answer is easy to give. He can't. However, this is a movement, primarily of smart people, but not experienced enough in politics to oppose the HDZ apparatus and the interest group that can overrun them on the ground whenever it wants. Without strong infrastructure, without money, there is no successful policy, and "We can" has neither at the moment. For Croatia, the fact that the HDZ does not have a real opposition is not good news. Regardless of the fact that the party is led by Plenković, who could easily be at the head of a more moderate, liberal party. The one-party system is never good and ultimately creates a testing ground for various embezzlements, which, thank God, are not lacking in Croatia anyway. Even the long-awaited transformation of the HDZ from a diverse society scattered from the center to the far right will not be possible until the conditions are created for the government and strong opposition. So we will be left without an answer as to who and why was so irresponsible and allowed this summer to party in nightclubs and organize weddings for hundreds of guests, which ultimately destroyed tourism and took away a lot of money to get through autumn and winter. While there are no questions from the opposition, there is no responsibility for the ruling party. Let's be completely honest, the SDP has not been a real opposition in Croatia for a long time. All these years, the HDZ authorities have either been circus performers for performances in Parliament or their questions have been at the primary school level. And that is the reason why the HDZ has strengthened, and polls show that it is still strengthening. "We can" and similar left movements are sympathetic to all those whose heart is on the left, as Račan himself used to describe it vividly, but that is still far from being a strong, organized and hard opposition. The question is whether this society of left-wing poets will ever succeed in influencing the media, institutions and all those places without which one cannot even dream of power. We are left with the HDZ, and we never know with it. And the citizens of Croatia are unique in that, because few believe that the next four years will be significantly better for us. And we should always keep in mind that we are at the European bottom, with Bulgaria, and now in the specific situation that the HDZ is the only serious political party in the country. Everyone else is an amateur, and for amateurs one can hardly find a place in high politics