New government, same politics

As we wrote earlier, the basic function of elections in a dictatorship of capital is to leave an impression of change, while maintaining the continuity of the same politics. These elections illustrate that fact perfectly. The party that has been in power for the last eight years, in the last months of its ruling has been experiencing its most difficult moments. No government in the last twenty years has seen so much discontent and disregard, and its support among the voters has been mostly under 15%. However, all the expressions of dissatisfaction, including mass, frequently violent demonstrations, haven’t compelled the government to allow for the earlier elections, simply because there was a consensus among the ruling class about the need to maintain stability. The opposition played a key role in this, calculating that order and stability are still more important than changes people want, and that they promise. Their cooperation in preserving the regime hasn’t passed unnoticed, so accordingly, on spring demonstrations, along with the flags of the governing, flags of the opposition were burned too. In the end, the opposition was completely aware that helping the ruling in their hardest moments will ensure that the transfer of power will happen in more peaceful terms and, what is most important, without active participation of the masses. Although it was exactly the politics of the government that brought about mass demonstrations, only thing that happened now is switching the government while keeping the politics. This similarity of political stances between past and future government is so obvious that they aren’t even concealing it, but are instead competing in who has “better people” for implementing the politics, that are “more or less the same”. All the crucial anti-worker and privatization projects of the former government that have come in question with massive peoples resistance, new government can now safely complete.

That is not something unique for this elections, it is the way that the system keeps itself in power. Opposition coalition that won power was overwhelmingly triumphant, although it won just 40% out of the 60% of the electorate that turned out for the elections. So they are in fact supported by less than a quarter of the population. It is interesting that the part of the voters decided to support "protest parties" among which the Labour party dominates. That relatively new party likes to represent itself as the "true left" and the representative of the working class. However, not only that their programme does not present any alternative, but also their representatives do not present any new faces. In the whole euphoria concerning the Labour as a "new party" no one noticed that their politicians are mostly former members of the most antisocial and anti-workers Peoples' Party – Liberal Democrats on the one hand, and on the other the same old bureaucrats of the yellow trade-unions. How can we expect those people to protect workers' interests? And finally, if we take a detailed look at the elections results, it is clear that the voting base of the Labour is not the working class, but mostly richer counties and neighbourhoods that so far mostly voted for liberals. The voting base of Ivan Grubišić is quite similar. This retired liberal cleric has used the moment of discovery of great corruption affairs to base his electoral success on "morality" and "humanity". Of course, his programme is in no way different from the political mainstream of the two major parties. The anti-regime populism is also the electoral tactic of the party from the eastern region of Slavonia. This party combines social demagogy with an occasional xenophobia and local patriotism. However, the politicians using this demagogy are the same politicians that ruled Slavonia for decades, only as members of different parties.

These elections gave the regime a new chance to save itself from the mass discontent by faking change to save the same politics. Still, this trick can't last forever, and the anti-workers' politics already announced by the future government will force us into new conflicts with the old government, regardless of who is leading it.

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