Well informed Zagreb commentator Boris Raseta looks at the current situation within the Croatian opposition in the August 30, 1997 issue of the Belgrade weekly Vreme.During the last days of August, a summit of what is traditionally called, without any visible reason the Croatian opposition, was held in the pleasant atmosphere of the coast resort of Porec. The summit was introduced in a spectacular manner but was conducted in a secret one, behind closed doors, as an informal congress, at which an oppositionary platform was to be created for the forthcoming Autumn fierce political battle against HDZ. But, the gathering was at best, condemned to a limited success from the beginning.
Even though the parties present reached an agreement in Porec concerning, among other things, greater co-ordination in their future work, demanding changes of the electoral law, throwing out the diaspora from the Croatian parliament and the control over the second channel of the Croatian radio and TV, based on the Italian example, everything seems to have ended up as ?much ado about nothing?
It is almost certain that most of the main goals of the opposition proclaimed in Porec will not be achieved, and it is quite certain that any of them can, or will be achieved in a foreseeable time span. It remains an open question whether by the time the hot Autumn comes about all of the parties present will survive: HSLS /the Liberals/ are rapidly falling appart into two new parties, a pro Tudjman one, at this moment lead as a party faction by Drazen Budisa, and another, anti Tudjman one, led by the current president of the Liberals Vlado Gotovac. The dissolution of the Liberals is more than certain. The Istrian IDS has also recently gone through schism, when the people who formed the Istrian Democratic Forum left the party, lead by Luciano Debianco. IDS will definitely not fall apart, but that party has been recently marginalized somewhat. The Croatian Peasant Party has been fully compromised in the Croatian public through its co-operation with the HDZ , while there is turmoil developing recently in Racan?s SDP, according to the HDZ scenario of breaking up the opposition.
Two persons made certain that Tudjman does not have an easy sleep - one a person from the margins of the Croatian politics - Dobroslav Paraga, while the other is formally out of politics - the head of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, Zvonimir Cicak. The first one has sent an indictment proposal to the Hague Tribunal against Franjo Tudjman, the other one has substantiated it with his interview to Split weekly ?Feral Tribune?. Paraga actually accused the Croatian president for the ?preparation, organization and conduct of an aggression against BiH, agreed in Kardjordjevo with Slobodan Milosevic concerning the division of BiH?. Paraga did not stop with Tudjman: he also asked for the indictments against Gojko Susak, Croatian defence minister, as well as Mladen Nletilic Tuta, Bruno Stojic, Valentin Coric, Merim Delijasevic and Ivan Andabak, that is, the exponents of the HDZ policies in Bosnia.
The indictment was strengthened by the mentioned Cicak interview, in which he said that an unnamed Croatian general , now pensioned, had a possibility to hear the tapes of the conversations in Kardjordjevo in which the two presidents divided Bosnia. The name of the general has kept the whole of Croatia guessing: many are convinced that he is Martin Spegelj, but he has decidedly rejected that possibility . Whether it is Antun Tus, or some other general, maybe we will find out soon. Even though most of the accusations are known to the Croatian public from before, that is, nothing new has been said in them, the state prosecutor has immediately raised indictments against the two.
It is still not certain whether the Hague Tribunal will take into consideration Paraga?s accusations, but the court will be in session - in Zagreb. The question was immediately raised why the regime reacted so fiercely to things it kept quiet about. Cicak says that it is because the HDZ is preparing to deliver a new quota of the accused Croats to the Hague - Pero Skopljak is first.
Paraga adds that this is another attempt of frightening the Croatian public. Both interpretations have elements of truth in them. It will be interesting though to see what will happen during the Zagreb trial, because it is almost more than certain that Cicak and Paraga will come in front of the court with their strongest, to the public still unknown arguments.
The larger part of the opposition, of course, stepped on Tudjman's side, accusing Cicak and Paraga with attributes ranging from political exhibitionism to grand treason.
Source: Belgrade weekly Vreme, August 30, 1997
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