Local elections (3)

Sunday is the second and decisive round of the local elections. In Zagreb, Osijek, Velika Gorica, Split and Dubrovnik (and some smaller towns) voters will decide which candidate they like best. The campaigns have been dirty and election rules have been violated. People who abstained from voting in Dubrovnik's first round received a letter from the HDZ party to support HDZ candidate Dubravka Šuica in the second round. How does HDZ know who voted and who did not? Aren't those lists supposed to be secret?
In a move to boost her popularity incumbent Dubrovnik mayor Šuica had "Parking pass holders only" signs removed, copying Zagreb's mayor Milan Bandić. I think one should have much disdain for voters to think that such cheap moves attract them, but in the Croatian take-and-give political culture this might work.
Milan Bandić sent me a nice postcard yesterday. It is a copy of the photo above, showing Bandić and his "achievements". It says "Citizens know", meaning that they know that Bandić built a brigde, an apartment block, a roundabout, laid out a public park, and so on. Truly impressive. But I was really amazed to see the Museum of Contemporary Art on the postcard. Zagreb is probably the only European capital without a functioning Museum of Contemporary Art. Since time immemorial the old museum is closed, pending the opening of the new museum in Novi Zagreb. When that new museum will be opened - no one knows, not even Bandić.
If a man like Berlusconi can be reelected in Italy, I don't see why Bandić wouldn't win the second round in Zagreb. I would just recommend Bandić to speak standard Croatian, and a bit slower please. You are completely incomprehensible to people who learned Croatian as a second language.

4 reacties:

Unknown said...

Berlusconi is worse, believe me..
My command of croatian is still poor, but they say Bandic has a strong "hercegovacki" accent...

Mark said...

He can't really help that he speaks "hercegovacki" I guess, but at least he could articulate better. Rather: start to articulate. As he won the second round, I have four more years to get used to his speech :-)

Sam said...

It would be nice if Bandic paid more attention to fixing the traffic problems in Zagreb and less on beautification of a square that is only used by a small portion of Zagreb. Many drivers are out of control in Zagreb and other parts of Croatia. They drive like the laws do not apply to them. Cars have to wait at intersections while 4 or 5 more cars squeeze through after the light has already turned red, just because they don't want to wait. Passing in no passing zones. Parking in no parking zones. Driving through an intersection that has a stop sign without stopping. Refusing to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks that pedestrians have the right of way. And what do the police do...NOTHIING! I was almost hit by a police car who ran a stop sign. Bandic and the other crooks holding a political office in Croatia should get off their asses and inforce the traffic laws in Croatia. Not only would it create a great deal of revenue for Croatian projects, such as fixing the roads which would help lower unemployment, but it would also pay for additional police officers to inforce these laws. Drivers know they can get away with these traffic violations because there are never any police around. If the politicians would care more about the citizens safety and well-being and less about what kind of food they will have at their next meeting maybe Croatia stands a chance of being accepted into the European Union...but that's for another blog.

Mark said...

@Sam
I share your anger at Croatian driving culture. A few days ago I saw a mail man (Hrvatska pošta) in his car, holding an ice cream in his left hand and a mobile phone in his right hand. Amazing...