Into The Whirlpool

VREME: What is it that has taken place on the political scene which forced you to press for changes in the party's leadership?

DJINDJIC: It is not a conflict, nor is it something which had been smoldering and flared up. It's nothing like that. External events have made me and other people in the party reexamine the situation in the party in order to be ready to adequately react to the changed circumstances. Conditionally speaking, a month ago I tested a crisis program which was being worked on. I realized that a debate on this topic was not only necessary, but that it was a vital question. This was a perspective I applied: we should compile a crisis program which would be founded, not on our goals and ideals or on what we have adopted as a system of values, such as western civilization, market, liberalism in economic relations, respect for human rights in certain civic areas, but we should look at things from the point of view of a government and say what we would do if we were to form a government. I believe we should be playing in the field, since I am not interested in history books unless they are written by top analysts. A sort of compromise was reached, yet we have not agreed on what approach to adopt. Some people gave in, and we avoided a quarrel. In that I saw a mechanism of procrastination, in the sense that we would adopt a crisis program which we won't enforce anyway, as it entails something for which we aren't ready. It entails that we really dive into that whirlpool and start fighting the current because that's Serbia.

* The rumors have it that the need of the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) to find a new coalition partner, after getting rid of Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) is behind the need to make changes in the Democratic Party.

There are several stories circulating. One story has it that Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, is behind everything. I have heard from a prominent member of our party, who is a member of the Federal Parliament, that there is an intention that I take over the the Democratic Party and attack Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, together with Seselj and Karadzic, and create Greater Serbia. That is a very serious Seseljesque phantasy. The other phantasy is that SPS in now meddling in the relations within the Democratic Party in order to somehow create a party which suits them. I believe, that even if we all were to join SPS we would not help them in any way. Both stories are megalomaniac and testify to the proportions of how wrong the picture is and to the false perception of our leading people regarding the power of our party. We are not a force which can arbitrate, and our problem is that we think that we can. It is exactly what I want cut short, that moral and political arbitration, which boils down to delivering a more clever speech. We believe that we are an important factor, but when it comes to voting, we see that we are nothing, as we have only five, six or seven MP's. Therefore, SPS may remain indifferent towards our party, as it probably is.

* What will you do if a political current of party president Micunovic wins?

Nothing. That will be legitimate and a proof that there is no readiness in the Democratic Party that the party policy is radicalized and that the party moves ahead. I am not trying to influence the decision of the assembly with my initiative. My private attitude to this will be my private thing. My political attitude will be a complete refusal of that fact. I am an official of the party and I want it to change.

If the party fails to recognize this, I can only say that I have made a mistake, that the organization is not ready to accept my offer. This can only have some personal, but not political consequences. A personal consequence might be the following for example: the party will remain such as it is, on the same level, if I and other people visit its offices once in ten days. Why should I work ten hours a day for the party when I can work only two, like the others do. I could also have my job at the institute and do research, as the other party's MP's and officials are doing. Why should I be the one to carry the water which they will use to water their gardens. Then, jobs will have to be shared. Why should I be the only one begging for money, let them do it. If we cannot pay 100 hundred people in Serbia, we'll pay two, if we can have computers worth 30,000 DM then we'll have 2 or 3,000 DM worth of computers, if we cannot pay rent for 500 square meters, we'll pay for 10... Politically speaking, I have opted for the policy of this party, I took part in its creation, and the fact that the members might say that this pace is fast enough, does not mean that I find the policy bad. It means that I find the pace too slow, but the policy is good.