On the first day of July 2009, Croatian Prime Minister dr. sc. Ivo Sanader, who is also the president of Hrvatska demokratska zajednica (eng. Croatian Democratic Community – the largest Croatian conservative party, currently holding power in Croatia.), suddenly resigned from his position as the Prime Minister of Croatia. In accordance with the situation, an appropriate metaphor for the Prime Minister’s resignation appeared among the people: “Rats are first to leave the sinking ship”. “Sinking ship” is an appropriate description for the economic system whose one and only interest is the profit of the bosses and politicians, while exploiting the workers and seriously damaging our Planet’s ecosystem. The first rat ready to leave the ship is, at the same time, one of the most responsible criminals, but, since we don’t want to be too severe to our now ex-Prime Minister, we shall agree with his statement that says that the crisis shaking Croatia is not some kind of isolated and particular crisis but a crisis of global proportions, and we shall add: it is caused by a global cause — global capitalist system. This is a crisis caused by the system defended by our exploiters, bosses and politicians with vigor and commitment, while diligently trying to convince us that we, the exploited ones, are also partly responsible for the crisis produced in fact exclusively by them and by their system of exploitation.

We believe that it is extremely important for the workers to recognize the demagogy of dr. Ivo Sanader’s and HDZ’s political rivals, who are using this opportunity to promote themselves and to hide the real cause of all the problems – the system itself. They are only offering us solutions in the form of their political programs, not in any way different from the programs of the ruling political criminals. We sholud always bear in mind that parliamentary democracy is a prank used by our bosses and politicians to legitimate their system of exploitation. It is a prank they are using in order to convince us that we also have an important role in administering the society, by casting papers in ballot boxes. Parliamentary democracy is a contradiction in itself. There is no democracy until we, fellow workers, aren’t able to directly, without representatives who will speak and make decisions on our behalf, start making decisions regarding our working places and our local communities.

While the system of politicians and bosses is chocking in problems, very recently the students have shown us, blocking their faculties, their “working paces”, the method of struggle, the method that should not pass without being noticed. They showed us that, when it comes to things concerning all of us, the decisions regarding those things should also be made by all of us. They reminded us about one, obviously forgotten thesis — the hierarchy is corrupted, unfair and harmful by itself. Once again we are posing the important question of direct-democratic decision-making and organizing.

We, The Network of Anarcho-syndicalists (Mreža anarhosindikalista i anarhosindikalistkinja — MASA), want to emphasize the fact that we should use this method, direct democracy, in the struggle for our jobs, our neighborhoods and communities, and that we don’t need it only as a method, but also as a goal. A goal that will enable us to make decisions regarding our own fates. We mustn’t allow that we — the exploited and the humiliated, suffer the consequences produced by the crisis created by the owners and the politicians. We mustn’t allow them to hide the true cause of the problem — the capitalism and the state as the protector of the capitalist’s privileges — and to annihilate self-organized resistance to the system of exploitation and submission, and the efforts towards the achievement of a just society.

For politics without politicians!

For the society without hierarchy and exploitation!

National secretariat of Network of Anarcho-Syndicalists
(Mreža anarhosindikalista i anarhosindikalistkinja — MASA)