Elections in Western Slavonia

AIM Zagreb, 25 March, 1997

Western Slavonia is the only region where along with the districts of Osijek-Baranja, Zagreb and Primorje-Gorani, there are representatives of the Serbs in the elections. But also the only one outside eastern Podunavlje where it is not the Serb National Party (SNS) whose chief is Milan Djukic. This time it is the Serb Independent Party (SSS) of Milorad Pupovac. There was a chance that the SSS would do the same in Lika and Knin, but there is still nobody over there who would do it, because the people are still afraid, especially those who should put their names on the list of candidates. It can hardly be said that it is easier to live in Pakrac than in Otocac or Knin, but nevertheless some things are possible.

The first candidate of SSS on the list in Lipik is Miroslav Grozdanic, and in Pakrac Vojin Mrzic. There is also the HDZ which is the favourite among the Croats in this territory, then there is the Croat Peasants' Party (HSS) and the Croat Social Liberal Party (HSLS) in a coalition (with Vlado Gotovac on the top of the list), then there is the Croat National Party (HNS) and the Social-Democratic Party (SDP), also running together (Stipe Mesic is the first name on the list). There is also the Croat Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) which is an outsider and its chief candidate is Mato Nosic. Out of fifteen odd candidates, only four are from Pakrac and Lipik, and the others are mostly from Pozega or the suprrounding villages.

"We expect participation in the local authorities, although they have rearranged electoral districts, so that villages where the Serbs live are neither here nor there, and they will be in a less favourable position in voting", says for AIM Veljko Dzakula, President of the Serb Democratic Forum. "When the votes are counted, when the Serb list comes out, the percentage of the votes won out of the total number on the list will reveal those who will represent the Serbs. Since we know that 25 per cent of the Serbs in Pakrac and Lipik have papers and therefore the right to vote, we believe that they will vote for the Serb list, which will not enable the Serbs to win in Pakrac, but to be represented in the authorities, to enable us to say what bothers us in the right place and not in some newspaper. To be able to look eye to eye with our neighbours who are already becoming aware that we live here and that it is good to do things together. If we want to live together, of course. The lies about each other are killing us, and it is high time to take off the masks, or else our oulook is dim. It is time to speak about important things, for example how to employ people, how to reconstruct houses, roads, the life and similar".

In Pakrac people believe that these elections are important, because they offer a chance to get rid of those who have done nothing for their homeland, except for having reconstructed houses for themselves, made a career or opened a firm of their own. These are the people appointed by the HDZ after operation "Flash" to introduce order, but they have done it the way it suits them. Although the head of the Office for reconstruction of Pakrac, Zeljko Zilic, announced a year and a half ago that everything would go very smoothly, that houses would be registered and given to everybody regardless to origin and nation according to needs, at least to give them a start, this happened only to some people, mostly those near to the authorities, who tried to solve the problem of employment without the Serbs who had remained, so there was almost nothing they could agree about, from the banal replacement of windows or roofs to issuing permits for construction, but especially not about the amount of money which should be given and whether it should be given at all.

In the beginning this suited the Croat population, but since the factories existing in Pakrac, Lipik and Okucani could not work without money from the side, mostly loans from abroad, and therefore had to be shut down, in the end they were all left without jobs. Now the Serbs and the Croats are trying to agree how to find the money, primarily from abroad, so that they could all be employed. A large number of Croats, along with the Serbs have left Pakrac and Okucani, because they had nothing to live on, because it is still more important for the authorities to prevent the Serbs to return than to improve conditions for living. But, this probably is not the real reason why reconstruction is more or less at a standstill and why there is a lot of things which are the same as after the operation "Flash".

In the meantime, about ten thousand Croats from Voivodina and Bosnia moved in, as well as almost a thousand people from Janjevo who are living around Batinjane, Durdjula, Bijele and Vocina, which even more changed the composition of the electorate. The native Croats are in villages around Pakrac and Lipik. They too are left without their jobs, so they are leaving to Germany and Austria to work. About 400 Serbs from eastern Slavonia have returned, so that there are about seven thousand of them in the region of western Slavonia, but there are almost 100 thousand Croats. Until the war, there were nearly 90 thousand Serbs. It is assessed that up to 20 thousand will return in the next two years.

Announcement of the return of the Serbs to this territory is a new problem for the authorities. Primarily there is the issue of houses in which those who come wish to live, because they are, by the way theirs, but nobody knows what will happen to the people from Bosnia who are in them, and who have nowhere to go. There is also the question of jobs, because there are no jobs even for those who already live in western Slavonia.

There are frequent incidents, too, because people are returning and those who are in their houses do not let them claim them. Serb refugees are mostly coming to Okucani, so there are numerous forcible evictions over there. Not long ago, the family of Petar M., a returnee from eastern Slavonia, was simply beaten up. They came but could not enter their home, so they demanded from the local authorities the right to get their house back, but were beaten up by their neighbours instead. The owner of the house where they have temporarily found refuge did no fare any better. Discrimination in repair of houses is also frequent. Money for reconstruction is given to people who have come from other places, while the local Serbs are "forgotten", and even many Croats, as if they had not existed.

Majority of the people who have remained and were entitled to pension, asserted this right. A part of them are surviving thanks to the aid received from humanitarian organizations. A part of young people, especially women, are going abroad to seek jobs, while men are staying to guard houses. The others found jobs in several enterprises which are working, like the clothing factory, or the forest estate and glass factory, where they earn 600 to 700 kunas, which would not enable them to survive if they had no other income. It is interesting that foreign embassies were more concerned about these people - primarily the Swedish, the American and the French, which for the needs of these people provided some mechanization, artificial fertilizers, and small cattle - than the state of Croatia.

Humanitarian organizations are leaving, and there is still noone who will be engaged in development of this region. Social situation in Pakrac, Lipik and Okucani is very bad, so now everyone is in trouble. And this made the inhabitants of western Slavonia become aware that they cannot live in isolation. It will be especially hard if this region remains half empty as it is now, if those who used to live here do not return, since it has already become clear that there is no other way out, although the authorities in Croatia are doing their best to fill in the population gaps by colonizing people from Janjevo and the Croats from Bosnia, which have reached the figure of over 50 thousand from western Slavonia to Knin, and it is planned to increase this figure until mid next year by at least just as much, which is still less than the number of inhabitants who used to live here before the war. As far as it is possible to learn, the minister of reconstruction, Jure Radic, will not give up and he announces a new contingent of hundred thousand people. He is counting on the Croat refugees from Bosnia & Herzegovina who are now in Germany. If he succeeds, even partly, it will be no miracle, because the ruling party has already become very skilful in cheap provision of Croat people for its needs.

ALEN ANIC