Zeljko Glasnovic – Dissecting Illegality of Croatian Elections 2020

October 25, 2020 by inavukic 13 Comments

When voter popularity for a Political Party desperately seeking to keep power, such as Croatian Democratic Union/HDZ in Croatia, hits the bottom of the barrel then electoral fraud is a possibility one cannot discount nor ignore. Democracy would have us believe and trust that elections are and must be free and fair, free of fraud and corruption in particular. We have seen and see electoral fraud almost everywhere; some get away with it, some do not. Post-communist countries such as Croatia have, like other former communist countries, seen electoral fraud being suppressed even though its shocking existence, and alleged existence, has regularly upset the voters to that point where voter turnout at elections is dismal. There is a prevalent view among voters in Croatia that goes something like this: “What’s the use of voting when we know that the results will be manipulated in favour of big parties…”.

In July 2020 elections for Representatives in the Croatian Parliament barely 17% of the total electorate voted in favour of HDZ amidst a low voter turnout in general. This meant that HDZ could, just, form a minority government in coalition with other minor parties. This also meant that the war for power meant that every single parliamentary seat was of crucial importance for HDZ. And now, I turn to the 11^th Electorate where three parliamentary seats in the Croatian Parliament are secured by the Constitution of the country. This is the special electorate for Croatian citizens living outside of Croatia; their voice within the Croatian Parliament. Every one of those seats was crucial for HDZ and even though, for example, retired General Zeljko Glasnovic, heading the List of Independent candidates for that electorate, some of which live abroad, received the largest number of preferential votes, he did not get in. Who got in were three candidates from the HDZ list on account of d’hondt method of vote distribution! But be that as it may, the election results announced for the 11^th Electorate hit the ground with widespread allegations of electoral fraud and desperate undertakings by HDZ to ensure all three seats go to it, otherwise it could not form a government, not even a minority one! Even with Croatian Electoral Commission using d’hondt’s method to allocate seats, retired General Zeljko Glasnovic was missing 11 votes to win a seat in Croatian Parliament outright, even though he received significantly higher number of preferential votes than any of the three HDZ candidates who whittled into the Parliamentary seats for the 11^th Electorate.

And so, for the first time in Croatia’s history from independence in 1991, from seceding from communist Yugoslav, we finally have in Croatia concrete measures being taken with view to inspecting the actual ballot papers from Bosnia and Herzegovina part of the 11^th Electorate and ascertaining upon hard evidence whether the allegations of electoral fraud are actually substantiated. Heading this process is retired General Zeljko Glasnovic, who has been a tireless advocate for decommunization of Croatia and that includes taking positive measures in attempts to stamp out electoral fraud.

According to the Press Release (see below) issued recently on behalf of retired General Zeljko Glasnovic several irregularities that irrefutably point to electoral fraud in at least two polling stations within the 11^th Electorate have been found. This fact is unacceptable and certainly points to illegalities in the July 2020 Elections in Croatia. How this will all pan out and whether the Croatian authorities will take this on board and do the right thing for democracy is yet to be seen.

Based on the above findings it seems obvious that at least in the 11^th Electorate Croatian General Elections 2020 were rigged. Manipulation of ballot papers appears to have given false election results and Croatian citizens living abroad have ended up without a representative in the Croatian Parliament of their choice!

Croatian people are convinced that corruption is widespread, including electoral fraud, and they all have stories to tell, either from their own experience or heard from others, including the media. They are frustrated because so little is being done about the situation, and because they feel helpless and see themselves as being played for fools. Many cynically believe that in order to get along they have to “play the game”— that “the System” compels them to do so. Hence, I, for one, am encouraged by this investigation into the alleged electoral fraud in Croatia by retired General Zeljko Glasnovic.

Below is the Press Release mentioned above translated into English:

“7 October 2020

On behalf of retired General Zeljko Glasnovic:

Press release regarding the illegality of the elections in 11th Constituency and illegality of the Croatian Parliament

The Head of the Independent List for the 11th Constituency (Zeljko Glasnovic) informs the Croatian and world public and the institutions of the Republic of Croatia and the EU that he has obtained irrefutable evidence that the elections for the 11^th Constituency in the last elections (July 2020) for the 10^th Assembly of the Croatian Parliament were illegal and that new elections for the Croatian Parliament must be called urgently.

Confirmed by the published General Elections results and as it is by now well-known, Zeljko Glasnovic, who headed the Independent List for the 11^th Constituency at July 2020 Parliamentary elections, ended up 11 votes short for an outright win of a mandate.

His Independent list No.10 promptly lodged objections and the State Electoral Commission (SEC/DIP) was informed of irregularities and in particular of irregularities at polling stations 26 (Mostar) and 34 (Livno). Namely, at polling station 26, 3,423 voters allegedly voted, which means that it took 25 seconds per voter to vote, which is almost impossible. At polling station 34, according to the statements of three members of the polling station committee, Zeljko Glasnovic’s independent list was denied 11 votes.

Unfortunately, all our objections were swiftly rejected.

Pursuant to the law on the Right to Access Information, soon after the elections and the official publication of the election results, we requested access to the entire documentation including the ballot papers.

Three persons, authorised by Zeljko Glasnovic, inspected the documentation on 23-25 September 2020, after which they processed the available documents.

Prior to the inspection, these three persons were received by the Vice President of the SEC/DIP, Ana Lovrin and others, and requested that an official record be kept of everything. However, such a request was denied. The inspection took place in the basement hallway. All available ballot boxes were found unsealed and opened, and ballot papers and other documentation from polling station 34 (Livno) were in piles on the table and the boxes were missing. When we asked why the boxes were opened and the documents taken out, the officials answered that they had to open them “to see what was inside”. We consider this to be illegal and took photographs of everything for the purposes of factual documentation.

During the inspection of boxes from the Mostar polling station No. 26, 5 invalid ballots were found among the valid ballots, namely ballot serial numbers: 033868, 034318, 034136, 034657 and 035184.

When inspecting the documentation with Livno polling station No. 34, the following irregularities were found:

box with unused leaflets serial numbers 15501 – 16000 (500 ballot papers) was found open although it should not have been opened and the said serial numbers were marked in blue and difficult to read;

by examining the contents of the box with unused ballot papers, it was found that among the unused ballot papers serial numbers from 15501 to 16000, 7 “inserted” ballots were found, which do not belong to that polling station or to that ballot box. Namely, numbers 089494 (found filed in place of serial number 016070), 089495 (found filed in place of serial number 016175), 089496 (slotted in where 016222 should have been), 089500 (slotted in where 016358 should have been), 089497 (slotted in where 016373 should have been), 089498 (slotted in where 016420 should have been), and 089499 (slotted in where 015011 should have been). The said ballot papers that were taken out of the unused ballot papers box and replaced by “other” ballot paper were found among the valid ballots (counted as valid by the SEC/DIP).

Among the valid ballots another “inserted” ballot paper from the 11^th Constituency, serial number 003829 was found.

It was further established that 9 ballot papers of serial numbers (015001 – 016500) were missing, namely ballot papers serial numbers 015115, 015179, 015362, 015542, 015747, 015786, 015854, 015887 and 015929.

the determined situation in the Minutes record does not correspond to the number and the distribution of valid and invalid ballots

An irregularity was observed in the sequence of use of ballot papers. And so, we have serial numbers 015001 to 015094 (except serial number 015011 which was pulled out and replaced by an “insert”) that are unused, and after that sequence starting with number 015095 to 015676 were used (except for the “missing” 015115, 015179, 015362, 015542, 015747, 015786, 015854, 015887, 015929), followed again by a series of unused serial numbers 015677 to 015701, and then again a series of used from serial numbers 015702 to 016000 (except “missing” serial numbers 015747, 015786, 015854, 015887, 015929).

Further, we found a series of serial numbers no. 016001 to 016500 unused ballot papers (except extracted series numbers 16070, 16175, 16222, 16358 and 16373 and 16420, and replaced by the above-mentioned “inserted” ballot papers), and this series of 500 ballot papers was supposed to be in a sealed box.

Examination revealed an increase in the number of invalid ballots, the number of votes per list does not match the official Minutes record.

We emphasise that we asked for a few more days for further analysis of polling station 26 (Mostar), but this was not permitted.

It is important to emphasise that the ballot papers and Minutes record from polling station 34 (Livno) were found on the table in piles, not in boxes.

At the end, we asked the SEC/DIP not to destroy the election materials, but they informed us in writing that the SEC/DIP will act “in accordance with the Regulations on the protection and processing of archival and registry material created in the work performed by SEC/DIP and other bodies for elections and referendums.” Therefore, we conclude that there is a danger of the ballot papers being destroyed within 60 days from the day of the official publication of the election results.

In Zagreb on October 7, 2020.

under the authority of General Zeljko Glasnovic

Mate Knezović, Lawyer”

Ina Vukic

CLICK HERE FOR The PRESS RELEASE IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE/ OBJAVA ZA JAVNOST NA HRVATSKOM JEZIKU

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croatia, Croatian elections 2020, Electoral fraud in Croatia, Mate Knezovic, Zejko Glasnovic

The Perils Of Enemy Of The People Climbing Into Croatia’s New Government

July 12, 2020 by inavukic 19 Comments

While getting relatively most seats as single party, Croatian Democratic Union/HDZ did not get enough votes in recent General Elections in Croatia on 5^th July 2020 to form a majority government. It will need coalition with other parties.

Touting on Croatia’s streets and media that the composition of the new government could include a former rebel Serb whose immediate family, if not he himself, participated in ethnic cleansing and murder of Croats during the Homeland War, is generating increasing bitterness and despair among people such as the one were Israel of today to appoint a high-ranking WWII Nazi official as one of its deputy Prime Ministers. Certainly, any Croatian Prime Minister’s plan for the appointment of Milorad Pupovac as one of the deputy Prime Ministers would push a large number of Croatians to the brink of despair and there is no telling which way that would evolve if Andrej Plenkovic embarks on that path in the composition of his new government. Would it set off a higher than the usual high number of people leaving Croatia, or would it trigger massive unrests? Milorad Pupovac has stated publicly a couple of days ago that candidature for a high position (such as deputy Prime Minister) in Croatia’s government would be discussed in his Serbian party room early next week; indications are that it could also be his condition for forming part of the coalition of the new HDZ minority government.

Milorad Pupovac has been re-elected into the parliament by his Serbian minority under the Croatian electoral laws that permit an ethnic minority representative win seats with barely a couple of hundred votes! There are 8 seats in the Croatian Parliament reserved for ethnic minorities! It’s no secret that Pupovac’s seat in the parliament has always been the subject of condemnation and strong opposition with the Croatian population. Essentially because he works against Croatian people and the truth.

Indeed, it is no secret that the leader of the Serb minority community in Croatia went to his village of Ceranje Donje near Benkovac during the 1990’s war of Serb aggression against Croatia and during Serb occupation of Croatian territory, which the Chetniks (Serbs) kept under control after ethnically cleansing all Croatians and other non-Serbs from that region of Croatia. Pupovac’s brother Vojislav was a member of the murderous Serbian paramilitary forces in Croatia, and his other brother Mladen wasn’t far behind. There have also been testimonies and conclusions in the Croatian media over time that Milorad joined his brothers and rebel Serbs in Croatia in the armed aggression against Croatian people.

Justifiably, serious concerns and disapproval by people regarding any possibility of appointing of Milorad Pupovac as deputy Prime Minister is a warning of sorts that increased conflicts about the values and goals set in the Homeland War are likely to erupt even more in the not so distant future. It is almost unfathomable why a government that is supposed to serve the values cemented in the foundations od the state’s very existence would actually take the road of purposeful insult against its own people. Yes, appointing Milorad Pupovac as deputy Prime Minister

would be a deliberate and ultimate insult against Croatian people who fought off the Serb aggressor in the 1990’s;
it would be a deliberate insult against the thousands killed during the war;
it would be a deliberate insult against hundreds of thousands of Croats ethnically cleansed from their homes and sent on a road of torture, rape and murder;
it would be a deliberate insult against the enormous material damage done to Croatia by the Serbian aggressor;
it would be a deliberate insult against independence Croatians paid for with life and blood;
it would be a deliberate insult against facts of history of Croatian suffering;
it would be a deliberate insult against common sense and human decency and dignity;
it would be a deliberate insult against the human right of self-preservation;
it would be a deliberate insult to me personally and, I am certain, to millions of others.

And, at the end of the day if, by any chance, an excuse for such deputy-primeminstership appointment is claimed within the bounds of reconciliation then that excuse would be nothing short of a lie! One cannot achieve reconciliation by inflicting pain upon subjects of such reconciliation. Offenders against Croatia’s independence and its people and their representatives must be brought to suffer for their wrongdoing and not rewarded! How can Croatia ever even hope to achieve the sought result of Serbia and Serbs paying compensation for war damages to Croatia and its people if its government places a representative of those who perpetrated the damage almost at the helm of its government!?

Reconciliation requires that facts must be faced, nor avoided. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic is and has been avoiding the facts of Serb aggression against Croatia in 1990’s in many instances. The fundamental truth of the stories of those in Croatia who were murdered, who were raped, who were tortured and placed into torture camps, who were ethnically cleansed and banished from their homes and their pain, cannot be denied.

Reconciliation requires accessibility to records and all state archives. This is not done in Croatia. Reconciliation requires culturally appropriate healing, and this is not being done in Croatia. Reconciliation requires placing the victim of aggression at the forefront of politics and human rights, and this is not being done in Croatia. Indeed, if Croatia’s new government appoints Milorad Pupovac as deputy Prime Minister it would make yet another abominable step in trying to water down the brutal aggression against Croatian people and deny the victims the human right to justice.

Ultimately, reconciliation is about bringing in justice and there is no justice in appointing and active anti-Croat such as Pupovac as a member of executive government of Croatia.

Among the communist left, there is a common tendency to see fascism within every manifestation of nationalism or patriotism. Indeed, the very Milorad Pupovac has constantly labelled all patriotic Croatians as fascists or Ustashe! The fact that he himself stood behind and is aligned with Serb Chetniks does not seem to bat an eyelid of the present Croatian government nor any government reeled in since Dr Franjo Tudjman’s death in late 1999. In right-wing circles, in contrast, “fascism” is a curse that is to be evaded, a kind of persistent suspicion that must be rebuffed – as exemplified by their much-portrayed image and desire for a full democracy, for lustration, and national identity that would stand by its people through thick and thin.

Croatia’s, the nation’s, values are being eroded by former communists, by universal liberal tenets and by “foreign” influences, including those within the European Union. The British fought for retention of national values by voting for Brexit; I hope that Croatians will have the strength and determination to fight off this prostitution of national values as is entertained by some with the very notion that Pupovac could have a role in the executive government.

It’s very possible that the constant sense of crisis in which the Croatian political consciousness has been immersed for two decades, hinders the creation of a feeling of a single, sharp and acute crisis that would spur or incite the masses into action for needed change. The ongoing state of emergency in economic downfall, in the continual degradation of Homeland War veterans who brought independence, the ongoing belittling of Homeland War values, the ongoing corruption and nepotism and clientelism akin to former communist Yugoslavia, the ongoing denial of basic rights such as voting to the massive diaspora … dulls the sting of urgency:

When “bombs” slam regularly into parts of the country’s existence, they too become routine, albeit a lethal routine.

In parallel, Croatia’s political and legal institutions have also undergone further erosion as former communists continue holding key positions. If bringing a rebel Serb, such as Milorad Pupovac, around the table of executive government doesn’t bring the sting of urgency to save the Croatian people from the pit of hand-to-mouth existence – nothing will! The reality is that for most Croatians in Croatia there is hardly enough food or money to live on, hence tens of thousands leave the country each year. The government is about to blame Covid-19, coronavirus, for all the country’s perils; why else would it appoint dr Vili Beros, the leading personality in the build-up of public coronavirus panic since February this year, who was relatively unknown before that, as new Health Minister!

We can argue all we want about the appropriate role of government in the economy, but the outcome will be determined in the political sphere, not the intellectual one. And the political reality in Croatia is that while some voters (at 2020 general elections only about 17.5% of voters voted HDZ in as leading party to form new government) appreciate what governments do for them, they generally feel that public policies are beholden to powerful special interests. And they are not wrong – concentrated interests are powerful and do dominate much policymaking. Those concentrated interest groups in Croatia revolve around former communists; those who help corruption and theft, clientelism, thrive! And now, if Milorad Pupovac enters as deputy Prime Minister, added to that we can, regretfully, be certain that these interest groups are not only about holding on tight to communist mindset but also about degrading and terminally running into the ground those groups who fought for, suffered for, sacrificed for the independence of Croatia from communist Yugoslavia.

To top the insult against the Croatian people, the very people Pupovac and his Serbs attacked viciously in 1990 with the aim of wiping them off their very own lands, said a couple of days for the Croatian media that “he wants to be an equal partner in the Croatian government”! The audacity and disrespect of that man is repugnant! He or any other enemy cannot be equal partner in the government that arose from bloodied ashes of Serb aggression against Croatia. Croatian people were not aggressors they were victims of Serb aggression! Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Andrej Plenković, Croatia, Croatian elections 2020, Croatian new government, Enemy of people in government, ethnic minorities, Milorad Pupovac, rebel Serbs, Serb aggression against Croatia

Ina Vukic – Biography and How to Vote In Croatian Elections

July 2, 2020 by inavukic 13 Comments

Ina Vukic, June 2020

Election campaigning silence for the Croatian Parliamentary elections (4^th and 5^th July) starts from midnight Thursday 2^nd July. As all who have visited my blog are aware, I am a candidate on the Election List No 10, for the 11^th Electorate (representing Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Diaspora worldwide). List 10 is the Independent List Zeljko Glasnovic. I am certain that all of you in my blogger circles will understand and forgive my absence from corresponding with you during the past week. As such matters go, I have been very busy with the Election Campaign. I do, however feel the warmth presence of all of your creations in my heart and mind. I have been privileged with you and with worldwide readers who visit my blog portal on a regular basis. Thank you!

In the 100-second video presented here, in the Croatian language, I provide my brief biography. For the readers who do not speak the Croatian language the following statements in the video are translated:

Ina Vukic:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Disability including Mental Health, funded by the Australian Government, Sydney
Master of Psychology / two university degrees in psychology and a postgraduate degree (University of Zagreb, University of New South Wales and University of Sydney)
Accomplished specialist in clinical and political psychology
Management diploma from the Australian Institute of Management
Vice President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the Diaspora and Homeland / HAZUDD, based in Switzerland
The most prominent woman activist in the diaspora in the creation of an independent state of Croatia today
Awarded in 1995 by Dr. Franjo Tudjman with the Homeland War Memorial Medal and the Order of the Croatian Trefoil Medal for special merits and contribution in the creation of the democratic, Independent Republic of Croatia
Influential worldwide English-language blogger on Croatian truth and the transition from communism to democracy
Candidate on the Independent List Zeljko Glasnovic, List No. 10, for the 11th Electorate in the elections for members of the Croatian Parliament 2020.
Ina Vukić, who endured the many storms during her activist advocacy for Croats, was born on the island of Korčula and stands firmly on the defence barrier to continue tirelessly advocating for Croats.

VOTERS PLEASE REMEMBER, IF YOU HAVE NOT REGISTERED TO VOTE BY 24th JUNE YOU ARE ENTITLED BY LAW TO REGISTER ON THE DAY YOU GO TO VOTE, EITHER ON 4th or 5th July 2020 BETWEEN 7.00 am and 7.00 pm AT YOUR NEAREST CROATIAN CONSULATE OR EMBASSY

HOW TO VOTE:

CIRCLE THE NUMBER IN FRONT OF THE LIST (IN OUR CASE IT IS NUMBER 10/ INDEPENDENT LIST ZELJKO GLASNOVIC
CIRCLE THE NUMBER IN FRONT OF THE CANDIDATE’S NAME ON THAT SAME LIST TO WHOM YOU WISH TO GIVE YOUR PREFERENTIAL VOTE

VOTE FOR LIST No. 10 – Independent List Zeljko Glasnovic – 11th Electorate

WE ARE YOUR VOICE!

Ina Vukić – biografija

Ina Vukić!

Glavna izvršna direktorica (CEO) za mentalno zdravlje i invaliditet financiranih od vlade Australije, Sydney
Magistar psihologije/ dvije sveučilišne diplome iz psihologije i poslijediplomska akademska sprema magistra (Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Sveučilište Novi južni Wales i Sydney sveučilište)
Usavršena stručnjakinja u kliničkoj i političkoj psihologiji
Manadžment diploma Australskog instituta upravljanja
Dopredsjednica Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti u dijaspori i domovini/HAZUDD sa sjedištem u Švicarskoj
Najistaknutija žena aktivistica u iseljeništvu u stvaranju neovisne države Hrvatske današnjice
Odlikovana 1995. godine od strane Dr Franje Tuđmana Spomenicom domovinskog rata i Redom hrvatskog trolista za posebne zasluge i doprinose
Svjetski utjecajna blogerica na engleskom jeziku o Hrvatskoj istini i tranzicije iz komunizma u demokraciju
Kandidatkinja na Neovisnoj listi Željko Glasnović, Lista broj 10, za XI Izbornu jedinicu na izborima za zastupnike u Hrvatskome saboru 2020.
Ina Vukić, koja je izdržala bure tijekom svojih zalaganja za Hrvate rođena je na otoku Korčula i čvrsto stoji na braniku da neumorno se zalaže za Hrvate.

BIRAČI (GLASAČI) MOLIM NE ZABORAVITE, AKO SE NISTE USPJELI REGISTRIRATI ZA GLASANJE DO 24. LIPNJA TO PRAVO MOŽETE OSTVARITI PO ZAKONU NA SAM DAN KADA OTIĐETE GLASATI 4. ili 5. srpnja između 7.00 i 19.00 SATI U VAMA NAJBLIŽEM KONZULATU RH ILI VELEPOSLANSTVO.

UPUTE ZA GASANJE:

ZAOKRUŽITE BROJ ISPRED IZBORNE LIST. NAŠA IZBORNA LISTA ŽELJKO GLASNOVIĆ JE LISTA BROJ 10. ZAOKRUŽITE BROJ 10 ISPRED IMENA NAŠE LISTE AKO ŽELITE GLASATI ZA NAS
ZAOKRUŽITE BROJ ISPRED IMENA KANDIDATA ILI KANDIDATKINJE NA ISTOJ LISTI KOJOJ VI ŽELITE DATI SVOJ PREFERENCIJALNI GLAS, ZA OSOBU ZA KOJU VI ŽELITE OSOBNO GLASATI