There is a Presidential election in Croatia on 22nd December. Although the political landscape in Croatia is dominated by right-wing nationalist and pro-capitalist politicians and parties, Radnička fronta (RF, Workers’ Front) is standing Katarina Peović to offer a socialist alternative and give a voice to workers and the poor struggling against capitalism. They were able to gather 15,000 signatures, exceeding the 10,000 necessary to be allowed to stand in the elections. We talked to her about their Presidential campaign and the class struggle in Croatia.
On the 22nd December there will be a Presidential election in Croatia, in which you are standing. Why is Radnička fronta running in this election?
Our main aim is to present socialist ideas to the public. The most humane ideas — of equality, of organizing society to satisfy popular needs, of organizing the workplace according to the workforce’s wishes — have been systematically demonized by those who are endangered the most by them. Capitalist elites together with the bureaucrats acting as their mouthpieces have carried out a constant smear campaign against socialist ideas.
What is the general political situation in which this election is taking place and how is it reflected in the public discussions and in the positions of other candidates?
The political situation is dominated by nationalist and liberal ideology. The press has been repeating things like “we need painful cuts” and badmouthing public-sector workers for so long that the slanders have become accepted by virtually all political options. The so-called ‘Homeland war’ — the Croatian War from 1991–95 — has been idealized and is continuously raised, so that it seems closer to us in 2019, than it was back in the early 2000’s. Anti-communism is also widely accepted, even from the Social Democratic Party, a successor of the League of Communists of Croatia, whose Presidential candidate dismisses much of the positive heritage of the actual ‘existing socialism’ in Croatia. Their MEP’s unanimously voted for the anti-communist resolution of the European parliament.
What are the program and central demands of Radnička fronta in this election, and how do you organize your campaign?
Our campaign is primarily focused on the direction that the Croatian economy has been taking for the last 30 years — deindustrialization and almost complete orientation towards trade and tourism. We stand together with the workers of collapsing industry arguing that to move in this way is unsustainable. We also demand healthcare and education adequate and free to the end user. We believe that everyone deserves proper housing and food without falling into debt slavery. We also stand strongly against Croatian membership in NATO, participation in foreign military interventions and against sexism, homophobia and transphobia. We want to reaffirm our secularity and demand an independent foreign policy.
During the campaign there have been strikes by teachers and workers at the manufacturing company Djuro Djakovic. Could you tell us something about them and how they relate to your campaign?
We gave full support to the striking workers. We visited the workers of Đuro Đaković and we’re currently trying to link them up with the metal workers from the Uljanik shipyard in Pula, the site of one of the bigger workers‘ struggles in Croatia in recent times as well as the metal workers of ITAS who have taken the factory into their own hands.
We were also present in the teachers’ strike with some of our members participating as teachers and the whole of our membership giving full support. In the end, the workers were betrayed by a section of the opportunist union leadership, but it was still a very positive experience with unprecedented mobilizations and the longest strike in recent times in Croatia.
Are there other important struggles taking place right now?
There are constant struggles against the never-ending policies of austerity, the deregulation of labour laws and the worsening of working conditions. It makes us greatly optimistic to see how the once passive and resigned to their fate workers of Croatia are starting to get more rebellious. What is worrying is that Croatian courts have recently started banning strikes and infringing on even basic tenets of bourgeois law and the constitution of Croatia. Just a week ago, we witnessed how the strike, initiated by the Independent road workers’ union, unhappy with their Collective agreement was banned. In the summer of 2018, a strike by Croatia Airlines’ workers was banned by the court because it could damage the company. Well, that’s the point of striking.
Do you think this your election campaign can be a tool for rebuilding the left and class struggle?
Yes, definitely. As I’ve already said, this campaign is here to revive the idea of socialism in Croatia. One of the key issues that I want to bring to the attention of more people is the essential conflict that forms the basis of this society — the conflict between those who own and those who are forced to sell their labour to survive. After the campaign, we want to use the publicity that we gained during the elections to strengthen other ways of operating, particularly strengthening our support and connection with workers‘ struggles, progressive unions and other like-minded organizations.
You are also taking part in international protests, for example against Vucic in Serbia. Could you tell us about this and why internationalism is important for Radnička fronta?
For a very long time, nationalism has been used in Croatia to suppress any kind of dissent. If you don’t like privatization, the theft of public funds and so on they call you a Serb or a Serb-lover, and a traitor and that’s it. We want to say that working men and women have no country and that they share more with the members of their class in other countries than they will ever share with the capitalists and bureaucrats of the country that’s supposed to be their own. Socialism can only succeed if it’s based on an organized international and internationalist class struggle.
