Local elections (2)

Croats cast their vote in local elections yesterday. A summary of the results, ordered by the size of towns.
In Zagreb incumbent mayor and swanky social democrat Milan Bandić goes to the next round, in which he will have to fight independent candidate Josip Kregar, dean of Zagreb's Law faculty. Bandić received 48 percent of the votes, a bit short for a win in the first round.
Entrepeneur Željko Kerum got 40 percent of the votes in Split. His main contender Ranko Ostojić (social democrat) follows with 35 percent. Both men (Croatian politics is to a large degree, unfortunately, men's business) will have a face-off in the second round.
No second round in Rijeka, Croatia's largest port. Social democrat Vojko Obersnel won a safe majority of the votes.
Osijek will have a second round in two weeks. The contenders are incumbent right-wing mayor Anto Đapić and Krešimir Bubalo, member of Branimir Glavaš HDSSB party. Glavaš was sentenced to ten years last week after he was found guilty of war crimes against Serbian civilians in Osijek.
All other towns have much less than 100.000 inhabitants. Only in these smaller towns some HDZ mayors managed to secure their seats (HDZ is the ruling party in national politics). HDZ president Jadranka Kosor said that her party won the vast majority of the counties, for what it's worth. Croatia has 21 counties (županije), an administrative unit that does not hold a lot of power.
High-ranking HDZ-member Andrija Hebrang, former minister of Defense and Health, was not surprised that his party did not win in the bigger towns. "In the centre of the city live either the voters or descendants of people who were privileged during communism." The electorate Hebrang likes better gathered last week in Bleiburg for a commemoration. In 1945 Tito's partisans killed there a great number of fascists, ustaše, četniks and also some innocent people. Hebrang gave a speech in Bleiburg, a bunch of clergymen said that if "Bleiburg is no genocide, then what is genocide?", and several people were arrested for wearing fascist symbols.

Local elections

On 17 May Croats will go to the polls in local elections. To inform myself, I checked the main newspaper websites and TV stations. Surprisingly, it is Nova TV's website (a commercial station) that offers the most extensive information on the local elections. Their news program, Dnevnik, is usually rather sensational and focuses almost exclusively on Croatian affairs, in which respect it resembles Croatian newspapers. None of the newspapers nor state run public television HRT has a site about the elections.
In Osijek, Croatia's fourth largest city, the main candidates competing for the position of mayor belong to the right or extreme right. Krešimir Bubalo is leading the polls. Bubalo is a member of the HDSSB party, led by Branimir Glavaš who is charged with war crimes. His main opponent is Anto Đapić, who belongs to the HSP, a party known for its strong anti-Serb attitude.
Another interesting city to watch is Split, Croatia's second by size. In Split entrepreneur and independent candidate Željko Kerum is leading the polls. In national elections Split was firmly controlled by the governing HDZ party of prime minister Sanader, himself a son of Split and great fan of football club Hajduk. Kerum's political independence is part of a wider trend in Croatia towards non-aligned candidates for political posts.
Then, of course, there are the usual outsiders and irregularities. In Kaštela, a small town not far from Split, former porn star Lidija Šunjerga runs for the office of mayor. Her campaign is centered around gender equality and environmental protection. More worrying are reports about manipulation of the number of registered voters. Dusina, a tiny village in the Dalmatian hinterland, counts a total of 530 voters of which 404 are registered at the same address. You would need a skyscraper of 35 stories to accommodate so many voters at one and the same address, the paper Novi list calculated. In Zadar, 19 voters are registered at the address of a two-story house.
The political blog Pollitika launched a site where you can check how many voters are registered at a certain address. By looking up addresses and seeing the number of registered voters, Pollitika wants to map (literary) irregularities. This evening a television program on Nova TV will be dedicated to electoral manipulation, so Pollitika's map should get more details.

Descent from the cross

The sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962) is for Croatia what Auguste Rodin is for France. More than that, actually, as Croatia has only a small number of internationally famous artists. His work can be found all over former Yugoslavia. Meštrović himself was a member of the Yugoslav Committee, which prepared the framework for the Yugoslavia when the Habsburg empire falling apart in World War I.
Sotheby's sold this week Meštrović's Descent from the cross for 250.000 euro, much more than expected. This work, after having been displayed in 1915 in the Albert and Victoria Museum, went missing for almost a century and was rediscovered in 2004.
Unfortunately, Meštrović disappeared too. Not only did he leave fascist ruled Croatia in 1942, but he also seems forgotten by his people. "Meštrović on the way towards oblivion", was the title of an alarming article in 2005. The two museums in Croatia dedicated to the sculptor - the Meštrović Atelier in Zagreb and the Meštrović Gallery in Split - did not do enough to attract. visitors. The situation today is not much better, I can say from my own experience. That's a shame. Zagreb isn't exactly a top destination for art lovers, so it a pity that it neglects its greatest artist. After all, Meštrović is omnipresent in Zagreb. His work can been seen on squares, in gardens and parks, in churches and museums. How much more do you need for a Meštrović Walk? Well, perhaps a more dedicated tourist organisation...

Welcome IKEA, goodbye Graz

The Swedish retail giant IKEA has decided to come to Croatia. Earlier rumours had it that IKEA would build a branch in Zadar or Split, but the company chose a location just south of Zagreb. That makes sense to me. Zagreb has at least three times more inhabitants than Split and Zadar combined. True, the coastal cities attract many more tourists, but they are not coming for IKEA but for the beaches and the Mediterranean feeling.
Croats, however, do travel abroad to go shopping. In fact, there are even special bus services to Graz and Trieste that stop at shopping malls. Graz is a town of the size of Split, but has many shops Croatia does not have: Mediamarkt, H&M and IKEA, to name the most popular.
I once took that bus to Graz. At the end of the day, we gathered at the Opera House where an intimidating number of Croatian buses were waiting to bring us back to Zagreb. When our bus left, the lady in charge - or tour guide, if you like - grabbed the microphone: "We are first! Our bus is ahead of the others!" I was surprised see someone that excited, as Croats cannot be blamed for excessive punctuality. But then it dawned on me that all buses would arrive at the same border crossing and that non-EU buses are subject to severe scrutiny. If you are in the tail of the convoy, you may have to wait for hours and hours.
Upon arriving at the border, the lady told us: "Whatever you bought, don't say to the official that you didn't buy anything at all. Who would be empty-handed after a shopping trip to Graz?" After this useful advice she entered into negotiations with the border officials. After quite some time, she came back into the bus and said with a big smile: "No inspection this time! We can proceed! I think we can applaud for that!"A thunderous applause followed. I felt awkward and moved at the same time.
I guess the bus companies are not happy with IKEA coming to Croatia. Neither are Croatian manufacturers of furniture. I can see why. They never had to worry much about the price-quality relationship. That goes for many Croatian manufacturers. EU accession might knock a lot a people out of business here. Many Croats avow love for domestic products (domaće) but the lack of alternatives doesn't leave them much choice.