Stjepan Mesic ends a decade in power

18/01/2010

After two consecutive five-year terms, one of the most charismatic Southeast European leaders is retiring.

By Natasa Radic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb -- 18/01/10

"This Croatia I am leaving to my successor is a country that is co-operating with its neighbours and fights corruption." [Getty Images]

On February 18th, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's reign as the leader of Croatia will end. Mesic, 75, has held the country's top post since February 2000, serving two consecutive five-year terms.

Ivo Josipovic -- a 52-year-old law professor -- won the presidential run-off in a landslide on January 10th, and will take the reins as the country's third president.

After Mesic steps down, he will be the country's first living former president. The first president of Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, died while in power.

In the first multi-party elections in 1990, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) came to power and Mesic was appointed the first prime minister of Croatia. By decision of the Croatian parliament, he became the republic's member of the Yugoslav presidency until the federation's break-up in December 1991.

In 1992, Mesic was elected speaker of the independent Croatia's parliament. He was removed from the post in 1994 after leaving the HDZ to form a new party -- the Independent Croatian Democrats (HND).

The fallout from Mesic's withdrawal from the party made him one of Tudjman's strongest critics until the late president's death.

Tudjman's older son Miroslav, who leads the nationalist right block, says that "the best thing about Mesic's mandate is that it is finally over".

In 1997, HND split and Mesic joined the centrist Croatian People's Party. He became the party's executive vice-president, but left the party after his 2000 presidential election victory, saying he wanted to be president of all Croats.

[Getty Images]

When Mesic took office, the presidential duties were based on the French model, making the position more of an authoritative one. Mesic initialized the procedure to make the post more ceremonial -- akin to the presidents in the other Balkan countries.

"If he could run for president again, I am sure he would win the votes in the first round," Split resident Davor Tomic, 72, told Southeast European Times.

During his time as president, Mesic made huge inroads in the country's reforms, bringing it to the door of the EU.

"When he won the elections in 2000, he took over the country facing the international political isolation. Now he is ending his second mandate with the score that Croatia is an EU candidate and a NATO member," Croatian Chamber of Commerce President Nadan Vidosevic told Southeast European Times.

He also established political co-operation with authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo.

Always a very decisive supporter of the unified BiH, Mesic was greeted with cheers in 2000 during a visit to Sarajevo as the newly elected Croatian president. During that visit, Mesic publicly apologized to BiH in the name of "all of his compatriots who did any harm in the past".

"One of the most important things he did was to draw a clear line between politics and active military in 2000," Josipovic said.

Political experts generally agree that Mesic's first year in office was the best in his political career when he made a few decisive moves, not the least of which was to impose an enforced retirement on the 12 generals of the Croatian Army in an attempt to make a clear separation between the military and political leadership.

Croatia has grown into a popular tourist destination in the past ten years. [Getty Images]

With his move, though it was not clear that Mesic expressed the majority of the Croatia's sentiment at the time, he reinforced himself as an acute and active figure on the country's political scene.

However, Mesic's time in office was not always smooth sailing.

Mesic's relations with the Catholic Church's hierarchy were under constant tension, as he criticized their involvement in politics and they criticized him claiming he is not protecting national interests.

While his ties with the church domestically were strained, Mesic had great relations with Vatican. One of his last official journeys in October was to Vatican City where he met with the Pope Benedict XVI.

When Mesic steps down from power, he will not be "just another pensioner". Vital and charismatic, he promises to support or criticize those who will lead the country after him. Mesic says that he wants to be a "moral authority in all future political processes in the country". In any case, he promises that he will not be quiet.

"Ten years ago I took over a country that was in a very 'poor condition' and now, I am giving Croatia over to my successor who will lead a NATO member and an EU candidate, a country who is crisscrossed with highways and is a powerful tourism industry destination," Mesic said at one of his last public lectures.

"This Croatia I am leaving to my successor is a country that is co-operating with its neighbours and fights corruption," Mesic said.