Željko Kerum, controversial mayor of Split tonight again wrote new page of Croatian history by doing something nobody - at least no person of his stature or importance - ever did.
Tonight he was guest at talk show of TV Dalmacija, local TV station he owned. At the very end of the show he announced that he was leaving Ankica Kerum, his wife of 19 years - with whom he had a son and daughter - in order to live with his 24-year old mistress Fani Horvat, who expects his child. Kerum confirmed rumours - widely circulated during the election campaign - about mistress and added that he and Ms. Horvat had an affair for five years. He apologised to his family for having to go public with his news and added that he would never speak of this subject ever again.
Kerum's shocking announcement was even more shocking, considering that he nearly coincided with his suprise visit to Split's very first Tweetup, which was held at Joker shopping mall, the centre of his business empire.
This kind of announcement is completely new territory even for most experienced Croatian pundits and media experts, so it is almost pointless to speculate about eventual political consequences. Kerum's ambitions in national politics are already seriously compromised by his major faux pas at Nedjeljom u 2 talk show, and uniformly inimical national media won't make this event any easier for him. On the other hand, at least some voters might appreciate Kerum's brutal sincerity - so uncharacteristic for average Croatian politician.
As any other politician/public figure out there, he probably realized the shit has hit the fan and decided (or was consulted by others)to make the best of it, i.e. make it look as if he was actually being honest with us. His ''brutal sincerity'' is in fact just a load of bullcrap. The affair was about to go public anyway, thanks to the media. What Kerum did falls neatly in line with the general hypocricy policy and he should not be praised for it. This is, after all, a man who went through his entire political campaign preaching family values.
The most disturbing aspect of this whole story is neither adultery, nor dishonesty (that's something we practically expect from our fellow humans) - it's the scary notion he actually might get reelected.
Posted by: marina | Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 18:05