If changing political parties were an Olympic event, Gordana Rusak would win gold.
In less than a year, member of Parliament Gordana Rusak changed four political parties, not counting the fifth transfer attempt which collapsed at the very last moment. She claims that she has not changed her positions and that she remains independent, reports tportal.hr on August 16, 2016.
Nine months ago, Gordana Rusak was politically completely anonymous person. In the November’s elections, she appeared as a candidate of MOST in the first electoral constituency and won 1,209 preferential votes. Thanks to a large number of votes the whole list won in the constituency, she managed to enter Parliament.
That was the beginning of her extraordinary political journey. In about nine months, she left MOST and crossed over to HRID, and then left HRID to join the HSLS Parliamentary Group. In the meantime, she also tried to enter the HSU Parliamentary Group. However, at the time HSU announced that she wanted the party to employ her associate Sanela Dropulić for 10,000 kuna a month and to have at her disposal certain funds which she could use for her projects in the field of education and science. The e-mail she had sent to HSU with her demands was published in the media, and she was reported by another MP to the Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime on the suspicion of political influence peddling. The complaint was ultimately rejected.
And now, at the early elections which will take place on 11 September, she will appear as an independent candidate on the electoral list of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić in the first constituency.
Rusak claims that she has not changed political sides, because she considers herself to be an independent. “I was in MOST for only four weeks. Before and after that, I was an independent. I will run now as an independent candidate on Bandić’s list. They did not force me to enter the party. They respect my independence and that is impossible in large parties in which party discipline rules”, says Rusak.
Political analyst Žarko Puhovski says it is possible that she has not changed her positions, and that the parties are the ones which change. “Croatian political parties have not demonstrated clarity in ideological or programme terms”, says Puhovski. Asked whether voters punish such politicians, Puhovski explains that citizens have developed an unusual form of cynicism and believe that most candidates are crooks anyway, so they are not too bothered. “In Croatia, moral arguments are not taken into account”, concluded Puhovski.
