Page 5 - Priorities #13 2000-July

Student View Students Turn An Election In An Emerging Democracy
Have you ever seen a furious old lady? I hope you haven’t. There was something strange about all these "grandmas democrats"; they loved their Vladko (as they called Mr. Meciar) and were ready to defend him against anyone as if he was their own son. I had heard stories about them, but I had always thought it was just a good joke. Now, one of them started to yell at us. Suddenly, it seemed like she received a ray of new energy from somewhere in the universe. She was really furious. Her friend was quietly standing by angrily nodding her head.
Then I probably made a mistake. We should have tried to leave, but instead of that I politely (!) tried to explain that we were just asking a simple question and we didn’t want to destroy our young republic (one of their favorite arguments).
The second lady spoke up. ...How can I – young and inexperienced – oppose HER? ...Who brought up such a rude generation? ...How did we dare...? Now both ladies were enraged. I mean, REALLY. They started punching us. A bad coincidence was that in September it tends to be quite rainy in Slovakia. Of course, the old ladies had umbrellas in their hands and were serious about using them against us. That is when we decided to leave as fast as possible.
This stayed in my mind for a long time. It became just another funny story pretty soon, but it helped me find out, that sometimes it’s wiser to keep your mouth shut even if you believe you are right (and even though it is hard).
After the elections of 1998, the place where I had grown up changed. I don’t mean just the obvious change that happened when a new democratic government won (The youth campaign succeeded – more than 80 percent of young people who could vote for the first time participated in the elections). It also changed for me personally. After this campaign, I feel more tied to my country; I started to think about the government as about MY government. I know that this place is never going to be the same as it was during the first sixteen years of my life.
Editor’s Note: Czecheslovakia peacefully separated in 1993, creating the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Zuzka is from the small town of Bardejov.
BI y Z u z a n a F e d o r k o v a , C l a s s o f 2 0 0 0
have lived in the same small city in Slovakia for most of my life, but in September 1998, it became a different place for me. I found
myself immersed in the new world of Slovakian politics and its struggle for democracy.
From 1994 to 1998, Slovakia had had been led by Prime Minister Meciar, whose government developed a spectacular reputation in the rest of Europe – as demagogues, liars and corrupt politicians. The way they were devastating the economy of Slovakia, which had been moving forward steadily from planned economy to free market, was so obvious that even teenagers became concerned about politics.
I was seriously worried about the future of my country. I felt that if Meciar’s government succeeded again in the upcoming elections, the whole of Europe would just laugh at us. I was worried that the "grandmas democrats" – elderly women who were drawn to Meciar because of his charisma – would be deciding MY future. These were the feelings of many people, too.
Some smart people started a huge campaign appealing to young people to vote. It wasn’t completely political, because it didn’t tell them to vote for a particular party, just to vote. I was a part of a voluntary youth group in my city that organized rock concerts, meetings and discussions; we also helped the adults with the regular campaign.
Most of these experiences were really interesting but one especially sticks in my mind.
The headquarters sent my best friend, Jana, and me into the streets to poll people (I really don’t rememberthequestionnow). Wesmiledandasked our question. Many people smiled back and answered, some looked little bit bothered but answered anyway, and some gave us an ugly look and a harsh "No!" That was never a good feeling, but we kept smiling (at the end, my cheeks hurt from all that political smiling...).
Then Jana saw two elderly ladies walking down the street and told me we should try to ask them. They looked really sweet – until they noticed us. The smiles disappeared.
At the end, my cheeks hurt from all that political smiling...
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