A Perverse Task

But, I know that I could not say that it was no longer any concern of mine, and that I didn't care what was going on there. Emigrants with many years' experience, usually try to deceive themselves by making a careful selection of the memories they retain. Some choose bad ones, others happy ones, depending on one's attitude to life. My ambition to retain a correct memory is being marred by the fact that all those dramas and catastrophes no longer seem so big and so important. It seems that nothing happened for years.

But, those involved in public work do not have the right to view things from such a distance, even when the next elections in Serbia are concerned. It cannot just be said that we have seen it all before and that we can safely sleep through these elections and the next few to come.

Of course, a miracle will not happen. The voters are the same, so are the parties, leaders, ideas and slogans. Those who were disappointed in the people before, will be disappointed again. But as they say in the States: get up and start again. It is true that Serbia is in urgent need of a miracle, but for the time being, all it can expect is a greater evil, while all that is good requires nerves of steel, patience and luck.

If there ever was a time for a speedy change, it has definitely passed and it remains necessary to fight for the soul of the average voter in Serbia. This means that the opposition must first repeat the battle for television, for an electoral system and control of the voting, and in the end enter elections under the conditions it manages to win. I can't tell from here if Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj has finally reached the conclusion that the time has arrived for him to lead a charge, or if Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has rejected him, so he didn't have any other choice. All this aside, they have made many people unhappy.

At the previous elections, the average Serb was convinced that the best thing would be for the two of them to reach an agreement and rule jointly, or at least change places every two weeks. This time the Socialists and the Radicals could fare worse. The first because the elections are taking place on an empty stomach, and the second because they have crossed the line and joined the opposition and television will make mincemeat of them. Or perhaps, they will fare approximately the same.

Many a disappointed Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) voter will go over to Seselj's side, while some frightened Radicals will opt for Milosevic. This could lead them to enter into a formal coalition after the elections, and then Seselj could find himself PM. The rest of the opposition cannot hope for better results, so long as hatred of Croats, Moslems, ethnic Albanians and others remains the main election topic, and the only proof that someone knows how to rule Serbia, and knows what it is that the Serbs want. It seems that at elections, the average Serb should be manipulated in a manner contrary to what is done in stable and ordered countries.

The average Serb should be promised an even fiercer battle for the Serbian cause, one which would be fought against all antiSerb centers worldwide and domestic traitors; and then after the elections, the average Serb should be left to eat, work and live in peace.

Of course, no one among the greater part of the opposition, will find it easy to carry out such a perverse task, even though some do try to fake stubbornness and commitment to the national issue. Then again, it is not all that easy to deceive the voters, the average Serb isn't all that naive.

Milosevic and Seselj have already offered sufficient proof that they will not let him down and make it necessary for him to start thinking, to see reason and become civilized. I believe that the split between the Socialists and the Radicals will prove to be final. I also believe that the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the Democrats (DS) and all the others should start thinking of a postelection alliance with the Socialists, rather than with Seselj.

But, all this is still very far away. Finally, Milosevic could perhaps dissolve the new parliament if he doesn't like it, and if he thinks he could impersonate Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Milosevic has always kept one eye on Moscow, unfortunately his assessment of events there have been wrong. Milosevic would also like to arrest his opponents and have the approval of the whole world, but in his case, the world is more inclined to greet an reverse turn of events. In order to appear in the role of savior, Milosevic would first have to bring Serbia to the very brink of civil war.

Perhaps he counts on Seselj's help in that direction. If matters really do develop in such a direction, the democratic opposition in Serbia would have to face with its bare hands, those very weapons which Sarajevo resisted in vain. I don't think that Belgrade faces a similar fate, but I do think that Milosevic is closer to the idea of relying on arms in some way, rather than sharing authority or having it limited. Before this, and since the Socialists cannot hope to win an absolute majority, Milosevic could try a coalition but without Seselj and SPO leader Vuk Draskovic.