In the name of the family
referendum citizens initiative logo
2013
Since the dawn of human society, which includes matrimony, law and church have regulated marriage as a union between a man and a woman, until recently (but in some states/countries only). Whether one believes that a marriage is an exclusive right to heterosexual couples, between a man and a woman, or that it is a right all, regardless of their sexual preferences and practices, including same sex couples, should enjoy, is a matter of personal and individual conscience. In some this belief is associated with their religious beliefs, while in others it comes down to pure reasoning on a human nature level, which opens the doors to accept relationships between two human beings in any form they personally consider comforting and most meaningful.
It is, therefore, a matter of personal conscience and each and every personal conscience defines our actions, and our societies.
Referendums in a democracy are sanctity, the ultimate expression of ones conscience directed at what society he/she wants to live in. It is for that reason that referendums must be allowed to proceed without interference from the government, especially, when the desire to hold one has come from the people alone.
My intention was not to write about the impending referendum on definition of marriage in Croatia, due to be held Sunday 1 December 2013, before it is held.
But, I am placed in the situation where I simply must comment, for since the fall of Communism (1990/1991), one has never seen a Croatian politician treating a democratic expression of the electorate’s will (referendum) with such arrogance and oppression as we are seeing in the past couple of weeks.
Recent months in Croatia have seen an incredibly successful citizens’ initiative through which citizens, in view of government plans to introduce new legislation that would greatly expand the rights for gay couples and was seen as a first step towards a full-fledged legal recognition of same-sex marriages. Citizens’ groups petitioned that a referendum take place giving the citizens the opportunity to decide whether an amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman should be added to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia.
The target to be reached in order to satisfy the benchmark to call a referendum was 450,000 signatures, but the initiative received statements of support from 750.000 citizens within just two weeks – despite systematic harassment by the government, which unsuccessfully appealed to the country’s Constitutional Court to prohibit the initiative on the grounds that it was “discriminatory”. The Constitutional Court, however, ruled that the initiative and the upcoming referendum were not in contradiction to the principle that all citizens are equal before the law.
The referendum will pose the question: “Do you agree that marriage is matrimony between a man and a woman?”
The path to referendum day has been littered with governmental oppression and fear mongering yet unseen by me, anyway, in the past 20+ years in Croatia.
Mostly ex-communists govern in Croatia at this moment. Their contempt for democracy and efforts to influence votes that are a matter of personal conscience become apparent in a statement by the president Ivo Josipović, who said he had doubts “whether we need such a referendum. I will go to the referendum and vote against”.
The Minister of Social Politics and Youth, Milanka Opacic, said the referendum “ is unnecessary and we will spend almost one month’s worth of social welfare payments on it”.
Minister of foreign affairs Vesna Pusic has said she will vote no! But, she did not stop there, she actually called the referendum “terrorism against same-sex communities”. Well, Minister Pusic, since you bring the concept of terrorism into this referendum, has it occurred to you that perhaps there are members of heterosexual community who feel terrorised by the opinions on marriage held by the same-sex community that threaten their beliefs and values? You would do extremely well to apologise to Croatian voters before Sunday 1 December 2013 and allow everyone, whether gay or heterosexual to vote on the referendum question in accordance with their own conscience. The result is pure then.
The Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovic said: “There are no warm intentions in that referendum. Marriage is not jeopardised because of same sex communities but because of the way of life, mad race for money and capital … I hope this is the first and the last time such a referendum will be called …until then I hope we will bring changes …I will attend and vote against.”
In fact the whole of the government is against the referendum and they express that in concert, in public, with the obvious intent to interfere and oppress free will and free democratic expression of the people as individuals, voting according to their personal beliefs and conscience.
Just as a reminder here, in Slovenia, in 2012, a government bill to legislate for same-sex “marriages”, despite having been supported by a strong majority in Parliament, was overturned by a popular referendum. Situation with governmental anti-referendum media outpour was similar as is now in Croatia. Needless to say ex-communists who reject full democratic opportunities, without interference from government, are the culprits.
The debate around so-called “LGBT rights” evidences the growing disconnection between the ruling “elites” and the population. The debate around the so-called “LGBT” rights have seen the government place “minority” rights in front of “majority” rights to the point where the “majority” is blatantly discriminated against. We have seen it in Vukovar, where the “majority” – the victims of brutal war crimes – are discriminated against and trodden upon by the government as opposed to “minority” – Serbs. We see it now in the lead up to the referendum on marriage; to the government representatives (e.g. minister Pusic) the conscience and opinion regarding marriage of the majority is called terrorism against minority (gay members of community)! To Pusic, expressing ones beliefs through democratic voting constitutes terrorism!
What a sad, sad time for democracy!
The government opposition has not been very vocal as to how they will vote at the referendum and perhaps this is because they respect the right of every citizen to vote in accordance with his/her conscience without the burden of public lynching of their own conscience, to which they have an absolute right, whatever form it takes: for or against the referendum question. Indeed, leader of HDZ/Croatian Democratic Union, Tomislav Karamarko, has caved under media pressure to say something and said: “ I will attend the referendum and circle ‘Yes’. Perhaps I should not be talking about this but I see the President and Mrs Pusic … are saying they’ll circle ‘No’. Why then wouldn’t I say that we, I will circle ‘Yes’”
Looking at all this it seems to me that the Croatian government is determined to ignore the results of the referendum if “Yes” vote wins. The Minister or Public Administration, Arsen Bauk, has defiantly announced that, in case the referendum is successful (and the introduction of same-sex marriages thus becomes impossible), a new bill will be drawn up to grant homosexual partnerships the same legal rights as marriages.
Alas, arrogance and brazen contempt for democracy are by now known to be the trademarks of the ex-communist lobby now evidently in Croatia coupled with the so-called “LGBT” rights lobby. I say this regarding “LGBT” lobby without malice, but with the realisation that this lobby seems to have strayed into dangerous and alienating waters, which do not respect nor recognise everybody’s right to conscience and expression of that conscience regardless of its orientation within the realm of society’s nucleus that is “marriage”. This is a sad reality for much could be gained to benefit all, socially, were citizens’ lobby groups independent of government and opposition.
While “LGBT” lobby occurs in primarily NGO forms there are non-funded associations in Croatia and I am of the opinion that no group or organisation should side with government when it comes questions of voting, of referendum They, like the church, are seen as representing citizens and not the government; governments come and governments go – citizens groups remain.
The encouraging thing in all of this awful mess and awful oppression of free will, though, is that multitudes of people at large in Croatia see that it is not right for government to interfere with referendum, to try and influence conscience votes, to try and oppress people from feeling good about expressing their private and personal votes and thus shaping the society. The real civil society is awakening in Croatia, slowly, and this is encouraging for real democracy – but I fret nothing short of a “march on Bastille” will cure Croatia of communist mentality. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
“BREAKING NEWS” 25 November 2013: I have just heard (after posting this article) on a Croatian HRT news program that the government of Croatia had produced over the past weekend TV spot to run on television in which each government minister recites their position on referendum question but it has pulled the plug on this. The TV spot will not run. Instead, the government representatives will appear in individual addresses on the issue as representatives of their respective political parties rather than the government. This is a significant shift in the government’s “modus operandi” and one practiced in democracies of the world. So, this is good even if the government has already done much damage in democratic process on referendum issue. One wonders whether an EU lobby group has pulled them into line?!