TUDJMAN'S NEW SUIT

AIM, ZAGREB, September 3, 1996

During two and a half summer months when, according to the Constitution, the Assembly was in recess as the first autumn session was scheduled for September 16, Tudjman diligently trained how to rule without Parliament. This summer, the first one without extraordinary parliamentary sessions, showed that Croatia actually has no semi-presidential, but rather a hyper or super-presidential system as all the key decisions were brought in the Presidential Palace, while only some trivial chores were carried out by the Government and its ministries.

Thereby Tudjman proved that he actually had no need for Parliament, except as a voting machine which should render all his decisions legitimate. The best example of this is that the ratification of an international agreement, i.e. the one on the normalization of relations with FR Yugoslavia, will for the first time be on the agenda at the session of September 16. As a part of the debate on the international position of Croatia and its foreign policy, on which minister Mate Granic will submit his report, this will be the first and the most important item on the agenda, which is so long that the Parliament is expected to sit in session permanently. By such a precedent, as he was not in the habit of asking the Assembly's opinion on his signatures, actually Tudjman is smart in wanting to share his responsibility with the Parliament.

Almost all major opposition parties have declared their disagreement with the Belgrade Agreement, in which the HSS and the Liberals were most acrimonious, so that there is no doubt that Tudjman will try, and most certainly succeed, to refute their arguments with the HDZ majority which, for variety of reasons, and primarily because of economic and political blackmail, is forced to abide by the party discipline. The debate will be tumultuous, but for the time being no one doubts the outcome, irrespective of the fact that within the HDZ there are those who cannot forgive Tudjman his embracing the aggressor and dancing attendance on the "butcher of the Balkans".

What's more, the HDZ members too, same as the majority of the "Croatian populace", are probably confused with what the President said a few days ago in a commissioned interview on the Croatian Radio and Television. Reading the prompter, but pretending it to be a discussion in which radio and TV editors put questions, the Croatian President attempted to explain to the nation why was that Agreement so important for Croatia. In this he made such a turnabout that a common citizen who was bombarded daily with primitive propaganda till then, must have had a dizzy spell.

This was the first time that Tudjman tried to speak of the disintegration of Yugoslavia in a different way, different from the usual stereotype according to which everything evil came from Belgrade, and everything good was always in Croatia. He thus said that "finally, the last two centuries of common history have ended - from the beginning of the 19th and up to the end of 20th century during which their national-state ideas have permeated, but also clashed, mutually helping but also destroying each other. But they also maintained special interests of their ethnos, which no ideologues and even movements have managed to destroy, nor permanently reconcile or suppress, not even by the use of force.

Equally unsuccessful were those with exclusive hegemonistic and those with transnational Yugoslav programme, as well those who tried on broader socialist-internationalistic or democratic-universalistic basis". Tudjman also admitted that these two nations played the main role in "causing a permanent crisis and final disintegration of the Yugoslav state".

Without going into further analysis of this latest Tudjman's historic statement, this was obviously the first time that Tudjman openly confessed that it was the conflict of concepts of two great states and that precisely those ideas led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, and consequently to the war. Thereby he actually spat on his own rhetoric about the dungeon of nations, about fifty years of darkness, about the Serbian aggression, and the Croatian slavery.

What redesigning of history is in question is perhaps best attested to by the following sentence: "Croatia has finally come out of a state of an unfinished conflict and uncertainty regarding its international borders, which was all caused or interpreted by the role of Croatia in the disintegration of Yugoslavia, organized rebellion of the Serbian population and aggression of the Yugo-communist army, Serbia and Montenegro against the proclaimed independence of the Croatian state and the unfavourable attitude of the international factors towards independent Croatia". Special novelty is that as causes of the war Tudjman now lists three factors - the role of Croatia in the disintegration of Yugoslavia, revolt of the Serbs and the role of the YPA, as well as the international community.

Had only a few days ago anyone tried to write something like this, which many attempted to, he would have been proclaimed a traitor and politically obstructive Croat. Not to mention how many people have been set in the pillory as they dared compare Tudjman and Milosevic, or God forbid, claim that their war objectives were one and the same.

The opposition and independent journalists now warn of this, but it is evident that Tudjman's new perception of the past has nothing to do with the historic interests of the Croatian people, but rather the daily politics. In any way, someone else will assess Tudjman and all that has happened in the last six and more years, but one bitter question remains: what was then the war all about?

Even if an ordinary citizen is unable to comprehend what had happened and why did not Croatia demand war reparations, why wasn't the state of war ever declared, why wasn't FR Yugoslavia accused of the aggression, etc. both him and the opposition are worried by "some things" which hint that the President has chosen a new method of rule. It has never happened before for the Council for the Defense and National Security (VONS) to hold three sessions in four days. As briefly stated, last Monday it discussed "the current situation in the level of equipment of the war forces". A day later the VONS with its additional members, reviewed the principles of tax policy for 1997-1999 period, as well as the basis for the elaboration of the state budget for the next year.

On Thursday August 30, it discussed the "current situation in public enterprises and in that context, the implementation of conclusions and decisions on the restructuring and rehabilitation of the INA and the Commercial Bank". From this last session special tasks were delegated to the Government, which induced Vlado Gotovac, President of the HSLS to claim that "the VONS was taking over the role of Parliament and entrusting the executive authorities with special tasks". Therefore the HSLS has decided to submit a request to the Constitutional Court for the assessment of constitutionality of acts adopted by VONS, particularly those by which this advisory body issued orders to the Government.

And what is actually the VONS? According to the Croatian Constitution "in discharging his duties the President of the Republic shall be assisted by the Presidential Council and other advisory and auxiliary bodies the members of which are appointed and relieved of duty by the President of the Republic". Early this year Tudjman appointed the new composition of this body, which has 32 permanent members and additional 69 who occasionally join in the work depending on the subject. In essence this is a central committee of sorts since members of the Council are without exception high government and party officials from the Government, Assembly Presidency and Constitutional and Supreme Courts. Another Article of the Constitution states that "the President of the Republic shall appoint the Council for National Defense", without any mention of the VONS so that it could be one of those "other advisory and auxiliary bodies", unless Tudjman has arbitrarily changed the name of the Council for National Defense.

In fact the VONS is a Croatian politbureau - people who Tudjman trusts, and what this body decides must be carried out. This "must" equally concerns the Government and the Assembly, as well as courts. And who is actually, by Tudjman's side, with royal powers, running the show in Croatia. The first is Hrvoje Sarinic, former Prime Minister and Head of the President's Office, now the Chief Counsellor. After him follow Dr.Ivo Sanader, present Head of Office, the Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa, Foreign Minister Dr.Mate Granic, Defense Minister Gojko Susak, Minister of the Interior Ivan Jarnjak, Chief of Intelligence General Miroslav Tudjman, Ivica Pasalic - President's Counsellor, Chief of Staff of the Croatian Army General Zvonimir Cervenko and General Slavko Baric.

According to the Constitution Tudjman obviously has the right to establish advisory and auxiliary bodies, but what can they demand of the Government or the Assembly. Or, isn't the subject of the VONS's most recent deliberations the best proof of what kind of state and democracy is in question, as long past are the times when politbureaus made decisions on the rehabilitation of the economy, investments, budget, etc.

GOJKO MARINKOVIC