Politics and the weather these days have much in common. They are unstable, changeable, capricious. They relentlessly test our endurance. And (to) preserve mental health. Just when you think the cold has taken away your headache, here comes a new warm front. I haven’t even properly finished the sentence expressing my happiness over Kalmeta’s removal, and he has already ‘aligned’ with the Prime Minister again.
In every respect. Keeping up with such express overnight changes is difficult even for those in significantly better shape than I am. Who would even dare to think that HDZ is not stronger than life, the state, its citizens, and common sense? A bit desperate, I allowed a friend to comfort me with a theory about the difference between strategy and tactics. He calculates that Kalmeta has only achieved a small tactical victory. He had to. Because of the elections. He assures me that Kosor still holds the reins. Those strategic ones. Just to preserve the little remaining optimism, I believed him.
Fortunately, better news occasionally occurs. Historical, moreover! What the Faculty Council of the Zagreb Faculty of Economics did not have the courage to do, Rector Bjeliš did. For the first time in the history of the University, he suspended a dean – Darko Tipurić. Involved in several scandals, from drafting management contracts for HEP to the now-famous International Summer School. There were not even a ‘fraction’ of ‘m’ from international students in it, but domestic students were dropping two thousand (kuna, although euros would surely rustle nicer) for passing regular exam periods. A classic racket, anyone with a bit of brain would say. But not Tipurić’s colleagues. Perhaps not even the Senate, which, ‘roars’ the self-confident Tipurić, will overturn the suspension. I couldn’t care less whether the rector did this for tactical reasons (i.e., re-election) or because he truly believes that the dean is a disgrace to a higher education (and once respected) institution. The very fact that he dared to take a historic step restores the hope that Kalmeta, from his fortress in Zadar, destroyed overnight. I reckon that fear and optimism are now equal. Which isn’t such a bad ratio.
