Zubak and the New Croat Initiative

After the Split in B&H HDZ

AIM Sarajevo, 19 June, 1998

As long as the international community tried to dissolve the hardest political monolith of the Croat Democratic Community (HDZ) of Bosnia & Herzegovina, it resisted all blows from without. When it seemed that it had already given up at least when the next September elections are concerned, the monolith cracked "by itself", from within. God himself took care of it, oppositionists from B&H would say, when he took Gojko Susak, Tudjman's minister of defence and governor of B&H HDZ.

The crack within the HDZ became obvious to the public for the first time at the Mostar convention of B&H HDZ, where disobedience to Tudjman and his envoys, primarily Ivic Pasalic, his man of confidence, acquired disturbing proportions. Indeed, despite Tudjman's favouring Bozo Ljubic for the new leader of B&H HDZ, political Herzegovinians - meaning the more extremist faction of B&H HDZ (because Ljubic brothers, Mariofil and Bozo, are also from Herzegovinians), elected their own candidate, Ante Jelavic, the current minister of defence of B&H Federation and made Zagreb seriously concerned. Soon after, reaction of political Bosnians followed - meaning those who advocate development of the Federation on Dayton principles and defenders of interests of all Croats in B&H. It seems that this reaction had the approval of Zagreb and that its goal was to introduce into the current leadership of the HDZ a certain number of persons who would neutralize the disobedient ones from the convention in Mostar, since the split within the HDZ could not have occurred without the knowledge of Zagreb, especially a splir of such proportions as it seemed in the beginning. Of course, Zagreb reacted immediately and called in all its "sons", like who know how many times before, "to consultations". And when it seemed that everything was under control again, since after the Zagreb meeting none of the members of B&H HDZ dared utter a single word in public, on the eve of the reconciliation gathering in Orasje, the public was informed about irreconcilableness of the two factions.

Nevertheless, everything is not what it seemed at first. The Ljubic brothers were satisfied. They became members of presidency of B&H HDZ and in this way they were silenced according to the already tested method. The problem turned out to be more down-to-earth than it seemed. The struggle for posts in B&H HDZ and offices in the Federation and the state on the eve of new elections was presented as principles, which was expressed by president of the steering committee for foundation of the party, the New Croat Initiative, Ivo Lozancic, also a general of the Croat Defence Council, hero of the defence of Zepca and chairman of the Chamber of Representatives of B&H, as follows: " At the connvention of the HDZ in Mostar, the faction which limits the interests of the Croats in B&H on Herzegovina prevailed", and the New Croat Initiative is in favour of constitutiveness of the Croats on the whole territory of B&H, of their return to their homes, of building Dayton B&H, therefore, of all those pronciples against which the HDZ has practically been during the past years.

The B&H public has attentively observed falling down of the fortress called the HDZ and no matter how persistently the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) claimed that it was the internal affair of the HDZ, it could not hide how pleased it was, like everybody else, with the beginning of democratization of the Croats in B&H, especially after the debacle of the HSS due to internal conflicts for the posts. A part of the Croat B&H public interpreted Zubak's "coup" as an attempt to woo the Bosniacs and the international community, and described with more or less the same qualifications as Biljana Plavsic in Republica Srpska by the hardcore members of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS).

And while waiting for constituting of the new party which will probably be called New Croat Initiative, as its "working title", there are still guesses who of the "heretics" has remained true to the idea. Ivo Lozancic claims that along with him and Zubak, there are Mato Tadic, the current minister of justice, Nikola Grabovac, deputy minister of foreign trade, and politicians on the level of the canton, but also old HDZ members, Nikola Antunovic, Perica Jukic, Milan Krizanovic and similar. They expect support of the Bosnian Croats, especially those from Posavina, Zepca, Usor, cities, and most of all, the support of the Church. Probably that is why Zubak loudly contemplates about a possible attribute in the future name of the party like Christian Democratic or similar. And while the New Croat Initiative and its leaders are striving with might and main in propaganda, organizing and constituting, applying for the elections and numerous jobs which are awaiting them in the foreseeable future, one cannot but rightfully ask, as Milenko Brkic did a few days ago at the press conference of the Croat National Community, who used to be the president of the HDZ, why Zubak and his associates had not declared before that B&H was the homeland of the Croats, why they were not as principled after Dayton as they are nowadays, when they are claiming that principles of Zubak's party are pure hypocrisy. Of course, they are, like everybody else, welcoming the shift in B&H, but think that new people are needed for new ideas, those who were not planning and working on dissolving B&H or at least who have done nothing to stop it. Does this indicate that the new party and its leaders, with the reputation the HDZ has, is seen to play the role of Biljana Plavsic in Republica Srpska or that of Stipe Mesic in Croatia?

The short time until September elections will best confirm the strength and the actual political power of Zubak's New Croat Initiative, but an objective observer already cannot resist thinking of the old political slogan that "only interests are eternal" and that for the sake of the struggle for posts a politician is capable of fighting even for - principles. Another question to which an answer will be sought is whether Zubak's party, apart from cadre, has the support of the electorate and financial power to survive, because so far everything that the Croats in B&H have done was paid for by Zagreb. And after all, the official Zagreb cannot like this, at least not all of it. The situation is all the more complicated when one knows that under pressure exerted by the USA, Zagreb will probably have to stop financing what still, although maybe just as an abstract category, persists as Herzeg-Bosnia.

Zeljko IVANKOVIC

(AIM, Sarajevo)