Heroes Who Surprised, Worried, Amused, and Horrified Us in 2015… (Part 1)

The year we have just left behind brought some significant serious events that we previously reported on in the weekly Lider, but in the past 365 days, there were also many small events that were recorded only on the margins of public interest.

Among them, there are certainly interesting ‘ficleks’ – from educational to absurd, from sad to funny, from insignificant to far-reaching. All in all, 2015 was a year of quite a solid harvest of absurdities. You can read all about the pearls of the year in the holiday double issue of Lider, and here we will present to you in the next few days 50 heroes of the year from the ‘distorted’ perspective of newspaper editors. Today we bring you the first 10.

1. Move of the Year – Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
The President pushed for a move during the campaign. After the elections, she no longer mentions a cheaper residence. Neither does the SDP mention it. You never know if you will become president…

2. Loser of All Losers – Ivo Josipović
In the fierce competition of political losers, he is still the champion: in one year he had two brilliant defeats: first he lost Pantovčak, and then he failed to squeeze into the Parliament.

3. The Most Secret Mystery – Tomislav Karamarko
The HDZ election program did not originate in Prnjavor, but, allegedly, in the German IFO Institute. The only path (program) was seen in the company of yetis and Nessie.

4. Münchausen of the Year – Gordan Maras
The Minister of Entrepreneurship and Crafts lobbied in Los Angeles for the continuation of filming the series ‘Game of Thrones’ in Croatia. HBO left Dubrovnik after that lobbying.

5. Moonwalkers of the Year – Ivan Jakovčić and Jozo Radoš
The parliamentary duo asked the European Commission how the interests of the European Union are protected on the Moon as Americans are already announcing the commercialization of that territory.  

6. Brave Decline – Ivan Šuker
In front of HTV cameras, he sank dead calm in a chair while explaining the introduction of the OIB. He was not agitated because he knew that this, like any other decline, has an end.

7. Golden Parachute – Dejan Fičko
Mayor Bandić dismissed the head of Zagrebački holding and the entire management, which will cost the city mega-company almost three million kuna in severance pay.

8. Diamond Parachute – Sandra Švaljek
She lost her appointment in Zagreb because she was too independent. She did not receive a monetary severance, but she took political capital from the City Administration.

9. ‘Usain Bolt’ Award – Sven Müller
An official from the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund responded by phone to an email inquiry about subsidies for energy-efficient houses after just seven minutes.

10. Switchman of the Year – Siniša Hajdaš Dončić
He announced last summer the construction of the first 12 kilometers of railway in Croatia after 50 years, and then on that route (Bjelovar – Zagreb) canceled all direct trains.