In broad outline, the elections in Motovun went pretty much as I expected. To begin with, the Istrian Democratic Assembly got six out of thirteen posts in the municipal council, while the Independents got four posts (“Barring Surprises,” May 7, 2009). Also, the Istrian Democratic Assembly got the mayor, but he will not have the majority in the council (“The Mayor versus the Council,” May 8, 2009). Perhaps the only surprise is that the coalition between Social Democrats and Greens got only three posts in the council, whereas I expected at least four. As I was fourth on the coalition list, this means that I have not made it into the council. That is, the Greens have not made it into the council, either. Everything will now depend on the cooperation between the Independents and Social Democrats minus Greens. At the moment, many people are rather optimistic about the post-election coalition between the two opposition parties, but only time will tell how well they will work together. As for Greens, they will have to wait until next elections.

Addendum I (July 14, 2018)

It is strange to read this piece after nearly a decade. In retrospect, its optimism is no less than baffling. To begin with, I left the Greens the following year (“My Disappointment: The Letter of Resignation from the Green Party – Green Alternative,” November 1, 2010). More important, the Motovun branch of Greens quietly dissolved after my departure. In other words, they were nowhere to be found in the next elections, which took place in 2013, when the Independents managed to overtake the Istrian Democratic Assembly (“A Revolution in Motovun,” May 19, 2013). Ever since, the Greens have been marginalized both in Istria and across the rest of Croatia. To wit, my hopes were dashed. By now, Greens are pretty much lost across the European subcontinent. The same holds for the rest of the world, it goes without saying. In spite of the Paris Agreement of 2015, the movement is dead in the water. And this is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. Greenery is for the birds, to be sure.

Addendum II (May 4, 2019)

To round off this gruesome story, a few more words are needed on my failure to make it into the municipal council in 2009. The election results show that only a few votes were in question (“Political Savvy,” May 21, 2009). How were these votes lost? Alas, the story is emblematic of politics in these parts! Here goes, albeit in the tersest possible form. Ljubica Handjal was a member of my branch of the Greens in Istria. A couple of days before the municipal elections, though, she turned her back on me. She would not even stop to talk to me anywhere we came across each other in the hilltwon. She seemed to be outright angry with me, too. To my surprise, she became friendly again a few days after the elections. I could not but wonder about the unexpected twists and turns in her behavior until I learned that Emil Soldatić was behind them. Before the elections, he approached her on account of some problems with ownership of her house on top of Borgo. The cellar was partly owned by the municipality, that is. He offered her full ownership in exchange for her vote. Given her large family, her job was to turn around as many of them as she could. Which is what she did. A key player in the Istrian Democratic Assembly, Emil knew what he was doing. In fact, he knew how each and every inhabitant of the municipality would vote. In the end, Ljubica and some of her family made sure that the Greens got nowhere in the elections. And chances are that I would have made quite a difference in the council had I joined it. Be that as it may, Ljubica is long dead. Whence this belated addendum, of course.