Mesic’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Mesic finally got the part he wanted from the start and his fifteen minutes of fame are here, a political analyst believes.

Something about which President Stjepan Mesic always dreamed of has finally come to pass, analysts claim – his fifteen minutes of fame are here. Although he was criticised for having more of a role of a fikus than a president, Mesic is, they say, happier than ever before. The public is confused, politicians jumpy and the president is yet again jolting jokes. Although everybody agrees that such an extraordinary situation is a normal occurrence in democratically developed countries, Croatia is facing such an electoral result for the first time. Some political analysts believe that had the situation been different in the night of the elections and had the relative victor been the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mesic would have long ago allowed the formation of the left wing in Croatia.

Mesic hindered both SDP and HDZ

Professor Ivan Rimac says Mesic has not used his constitutional powers so far. But how much did Mesic assist or hinder either sides with such conduct, Rimac wonders.

- At the very start Mesic refused to give the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) the mandate although they won ten mandates, placing the HDZ and the SDP in the same position, which the left wing does not deserve, Rimac said.

Milardovic: Mr. President, stick to the Constitution!

Head of the Political Research Centre, Andjelko Milardovic, told Javno that the chief guideline for Mesic was the Constitution, more accurately, articles 97, 110 and 111. Anything out of those frameworks is a breach of the Constitution and its powers.

- Mesic is obliged to stick to the Constitution. He has finally got what he wanted, he got the role he dreamed of from the start. His fifteen minutes of fame are finally here, but this time the Constitution is backing him up and he is exploiting that to the fullest.

Citizens still have no answer to the question as to who the winner of the elections are, but Milardovic does not consider the situation concerning. There is no reason to additionally confuse people and stir panic among the voters, as all this had to end sooner or later.

Mesic is mandatary of mandataries

- Mesic got the ideal role. He is the mandatary of mandataries! But he has 30 to 60 days to pronounce the winner. Then his power ceases – Milardovic said.

Freezing his membership in the Croatian People’s Party (HNS), Mesic became the president of the citizens and his only role is to execute the will of the people. But everybody knows that Mesic is visibly disappointed with the HDZ’s victory, Ljiljana Buhac, a non-verbal communications expert, says.

- You know that clothes send a type of message. Mesic wore a sweater in the night of elections. What can that tell us other than that he belittled the situation the entire time. Remember his poise – his hand over his mouth tells us: don’t ask me anything, I do not want to comment. He closed himself off with his arms: it was evident that he was visibly disappointed, he expected the SDP to win and he only wanted nobody to ask him anything – Buhac concluded.

‘He does not hide his bias’

Buhac stresses that the president should be an active listener and only that. He should keep his comments to himself. But his non-verbal communication tells us he is very disappointed. Everything that went on these past few days proved that he is cunningly using tactics and manipulating the masses, she says.

- Mesic is not hiding his bias. If you know how to listen, he laughs, tells jokes, making fun of this entire situation and his behaviour, which should be neutral, indicates that he is evidently for the left option – Buhac concludes.

Such a situation, in which Croatia has found itself for the first time, is an everyday occurrence in western parliamentary democracies. For example, the government in Slovakia took eight months to form. Until it is formed in Croatia, the technical government will continue to perform the duties of the regular government. The system will function normally and there is no sign of a political crisis, Milardovic concluded.