Krešimir Macan Talks about Orešković, Karamarko, Pauletić, Milanović…
PR expert Krešimir Macan, who specializes in crisis communication, strategic communication in politics and new media, commented on the latest events in Croatian politics in an interview with Dalmatinski Portal on March 2, 2016.
He says that the government is generating so many scandals that it is impossible to see what they are actually doing. Crnoja, Pauletić, Brkić… But, he adds, everyone should be given a chance. “For the first time, we have a coalition like this led by a right-wing party, and you have to be open-minded to be in a coalition. Right-wing parties and open mind rarely go hand in hand. They are quite rigid and that obviously leads to misunderstandings”, says Macan. He believes that it is a good thing that financial expert Tihomir Orešković appeared, but the problem is if he has only “little Marić” in his team. “If he and Marić are isolated, surrounded by these various types of characters, we have a problem. They talked about a government of experts, but we are getting increasingly skeptical whether they really are experts. They are learning at our expense, and that is the biggest problem”, says Macan.
He added that in other countries politicians are trained for their jobs, but in Croatia it is possible for someone from the street to become a politician. “When we see their CVs, most of them failed in their private businesses, so you wonder… The problem is that someone who is successful will not want to work in such government. They will not accept bosses like these”, says Macan. He referred in particular to the phrase “the majority of the Croatian people have votes for us” which is usually used by Tomislav Karamarko. He called it pure manipulation. “Looking at figures, 30 percent of voters supported the current government. Two-thirds did not vote for them. The elections are decided by those who stay at home and those who vote for parties which do not pass the electoral threshold”, warns Macan.
Talking about the selection of Robert Pauletić as Deputy Tourism Minister, Macan says that it is possible to “iron out” what he wrote and that his statements from the past can only be harmful if they are repeated, and Pauletić has already explained them as the spirit of Split. “However, to me, it is much worse that he stated that him not being from the tourism industry is no big deal and that this fact is no obstacle to him being successful. That is true, but our tourism is well developed and it is stupid that we should learn from our mistakes or pay for someone’s education”, He says he is quite skeptical about him, although sometimes it is a good thing to have someone come in from the sidelines, who is free of any prejudices. “The fact is that our tourist board system is terribly slow. Every year, we have more and more guests, tourist boards are getting more and more money, but they do a worse job every year. I cannot see how they contributed to the growth of tourism, and any good result they can attribute to themselves. They have never been independently evaluated”, says Macan.
Then he mentioned the Ultra Europe Festival. “What did the Split Tourist Board do to bring the Ultra Festival? Ultra happened and the first year everybody was lost, and now they say it is the best thing which happened”, he notes. Macan recalled that a couple of years ago there was a meeting where everybody argued whether to support Ultra or not and then everyone realized it was a great opportunity. “First they had to open their eyes and see the money, but it is difficult for them to look a few years ahead and that is what makes me sad”, says Macan.
However, there are exceptions. He said that Tourist Board of Split-Dalmatia County and director Joško Stella should be commended. “Indeed, they do come to conferences, they listen and implement ideas. They work in a different way and you can see the results”, Macan added.
Macan also talked about the outcome of intraparty elections in SDP and who would win, Zoran Milanović or Zlatko Komadina. “It will be very close; I see they are both concerned. The result will not be determined by the media, but by internal party games and pressures”, says Macan. He says that the way Milanović talks about President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović is inappropriate, regardless of the fact he may not agree with her actions.
