Zagreb’s mayor Milan Bandić has refused to apologise for the eyebrow-raising remark that many have deemed to have been sexist.
Croatia’s politicians are often in the news for all the wrong things, whether it be suspicions of corruption, misusing funds or simply getting on people’s nerves, despite the many controversies that have surrounded him over the years, Milan Bandić somehow manages to stay on top of it all. Zagreb’s long standing mayor has recently been in hot water again, aside from the court case currently taking place against him.
Bandić angered many and caused hidden smirks for others with a rather blasé statement in which he claimed he’d make ”the best woman because he gives it to everyone”.
As Index writes on the 30th of August, 2018, despite numerous calls across the spectrum for the controversial Zagreb mayor to publicly apologise for making the statement, he has refused to apologise or take it back, claiming he sees nothing particularly controversial in what he said, defending himself by claiming his personal altruism to be on the larger side.
Bandić was pressed on Wednesday about the Narod odlučuje initiative having claimed that he minimised their signature collecting activities in the capital. In response, the outspoken mayor stated: “Do you know that Bandić gives it to [allows for] everyone? If I was a woman I’d be the best woman, and I’m a small man, but I give it to everybody.”
Journalists asked Bandić whether he’d be offering an apology for such a message to women and whether or not he considered it to be at all appropriate with respect to his political position, he replied: “Bandić’s altruism which has been there all [of my] life is large and wide, it isn’t my fault if there are people who can’t deal with it. Those who get it, get it, and those who don’t, my God. I live [through] my altruism and my altruism has no limits, and I’m not seeing anything controversial there.”
Mirka Jozić of the City Office of Economy defended the Zagreb mayor’s character, stating that the his statement hadn’t insulted her at all because her experiences of him are the complete opposite.
“I can offer you my experiences with the mayor, not because he’s sitting here, but because in my life, in my 48 years, as a woman, I’ve been through a lot, even humiliation, and I’d probably have had more success had I been male. The only place I’ve managed to succeed in bringing my ambitions to fruition and be rewarded for what I do is in the City Administration headed by Milan Bandić,” said Jozić.
