Superman and Slobodan Milosevic

This "imperfection" was already removed in the early parliamentary elections in 1992. A number of claimants for a seat in the parliament went up: there were 204 electoral lists in all electoral units. Out of 92 registered parties 48 parties and coalitions had their own lists. In addition to that, 56 lists of citizens' groups were on the election menu. Only 8 parties and 1 group of citizens managed to win a seat in the parliament.

The Justice Ministry announced ahead of the 1993 elections that 113 parties had got a license for the electoral race. Fortunately, not all of them had their own list, so that 216 lists with 5,163 candidates were accepted in all 9 electoral units. And, finally, when they went to the polls the citizens had to choose among 84 lists, of which 39 were signed by groups of citizens, 7 by coalitions and 38 by parties.

The point of such huge numbers is that an ordinary citizen is made to feel revulsion at taking part in the political life. On the other hand, it is an effective manipulative trick to emphasize the value of the old, already-existing structure, especially when compared with the chaos which numerous parties bring. Djordje Uskokovic, an analyst of the local electoral arena, therefore, noted, "Such democracy is aimed at confusing people; the citizens are undecided and either abstain or vote for what is familiar to them." The citizens were not the only ones confused. A number of prognosers (with the exception of the Institute of Social Sciences) failed to make correct predictions about the election results.

Uskokovic believes that we did not have the elections in a true democratic sense. He even went further claiming that our society is not plural just because we have so many parties. "We cannot talk either about pluralism or the opposition if there are more than forty parties running in the elections. Many parties were formed on the eve of the elections and were registered over night. Majority of parties here last only one season." Uskokovic pointed out yet another paradox: in the situation where the society is falling apart and the state is disappearing what remains is the power of the current authorities. They become stronger and acquire legitimacy even in such multi-party democratic elections.

Researchers have noticed that the citizens of Serbia are becoming increasingly uncertain as to who to vote for. 43 per cent of the electorate changed their mind. Most uncertain are those who voted for a small party in the first elections and as many as 70 per cent of them (8 per cent of the electorate) keep changing their mind while having no idea about who to vote for or intending to abstain.

On one hand, a large number of citizens are becoming apolitical either because they are trying to escape from politics or fail to understand it. On the other hand, a great part of the society is becoming excessively politicized trying to turn politics into their profession. Founders of small parties and groups of citizens are recruited in the ranks of this core of activists. For them the elections represent a lottery where they will get a ticket to the circles of the political elite and a chance to become creators of history and saviors of the nation.

These elections resulted in a host of citizens' groups with various names, as a form of lost confidence in parties and a sign of protest against party quarrels. The domestic political scene was thus enriched by new exotic specimen with names such as "Universalists," "Youth," "Better Life," "Superman," etc. One group of citizens was even called "Slobodan Milosevic". They supported the President of Serbia but condemned the Socialist Party of Serbia. The Party of hard currency savings account holders and the Association of hard currency savings account holders sought votes on behalf of the money they had lost. On the other hand, there were parties which rallied those nostalgic for the times of socialist self-management, now long gone. There were several communist parties, two or three social-democratic, one workers party of Serbia, and one Yugoslav working class party called Josip Broz Tito. There was also the Party of multi-party socialism.

The total number of votes which went to the parties and citizens' groups who failed to win a seat in the parliament amounts to 384,016. Last year 654,619 people gave their vote to the parties which did not get into the parliament. A decrease in votes which went to small parties indicates that the electorate has begun to stabilize becoming attached to big parties.

A number of invalid votes is an indication of a catastrophic electoral administration and mistakes made in the process of counting the votes. But, it is also a proof that the Serbian society is illiterate, not only politically but also literally. According to the 1981 census, almost a half of the population of Serbia (45 per cent) have not finished primary school, 24 per cent have finished primary school only, while there are only 6 per cent of those who attended university. An illiterate people will easily vote for a totalitarian system.

In the first elections 7,033,610 people were entitled to vote out of whom 5,029,123 or 71,5 per cent actually voted. There were 169,461 invalid ballots, i.e. every thirtieth ballot.

In the elections held in December 1992 and January 3,1993, 6,774,995 people had the right to vote out of whom 4,723,711 used this right. There were 275,861 invalid ballots, i.e. every seventeenth ballot.

According to incomplete results of the parliamentary elections on December 19, 1993, there were 6,872,123 people entitled to vote. 4,281,359 voted. There were 171,102 invalid ballots. i.e. every twenty-fifth ballot.