An United Opposition?

At the initiative of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and in their premises, the following party leaders met: SRS leader Vojislav Seselj, Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic, vicepresident of the Democratic Party (DS) Miroljub Labus, and vicepresident of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Radoslav Stojanovic. Practically at the same time, DS leader Zoran Djindjic visited DSS leader Vojislav Kostunica and later SRS official Dragan Todorovic.

Nobody however, really believed wholeheartedly in all that had taken place, neither the public, the journalists, the initiators of the meetings or the participants. Politicians who have united for the umpteenth time so far, quarrelled, made up and separated again, can't expect a different reaction. And this is perhaps, why the final resulta lukewarm statement and no new quarrels, have left the party leaders more than happy. The SRS has received, at a very difficult moment for it, support in principle, and has shown the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), that it will have a hard time breaking the SRS or eliminating it from the Assembly and the political scene.

A top SPO official told VREME: ``Since we have already been proclaimed `traitors', we have less to lose in this fraternizing with patriots than does the SRS, who are `patriots', in fraternizing with us `traitors'.'' The SPO is also happy with the possibility of a joint submission of certain laws, and the fact that they have finally got together a sufficient number of deputies for the scheduling of a special session of the Serbian Assembly. The Democrats, who never embark on something that smells of adventure, are happy with what has been done. Kostunica has agreed, in principle, to the package of economic legislature which had been discussed with Djindjic, while Labus, during his visit to Seselj, agreed only that the Democrats would participate in the condemnation of Serbian Assembly Speaker Radoman Bozovic and demand his resignation. The DSS which was founded after a split within the Democratic Party and which is at loggerheads with the Democratic Movement of Serbia (DEPOS), certainly had reason to suspect the good intentions of their erstwhile friends. But, having learned their lesson at the last elections, when they were accused of breaking up the opposition, the DSS now urges what Kostunica has termed a ``technical coalition.''

In other words, a joint platform with other opposition parties is possible, but only in certain situations, for certain goals and only under specifically defined terms. One DSS official told VREME that if the ``technical side'' were not respected, then the DSS would fight to the death with the other parties at the next elections (probably Federal elections in June or in autumn). ``In that case, the elections will result in a massacre of the opposition, since we have nothing to lose.''

Other opposition parties view the DSS threats as bluffing. Milan Bozic of DEPOS noticed that in the event of Federal elections, Kostunica would be the only one to have a problem with achieving the minimum number of votes for entering elections, while the SPO, the SRS and the DS would pass without problems. Bozic believes that this problem must be resolved in order that a strong opposition quartet might remain. The problem can be solved if the DSS enters the election race in cooperation with one of the other three.

If we disregard the fact that the elections are still far away, the one big question that the opposition should agree on this time, is how far will they go?

Thanks to the fact that they don't trust one another, opposition members have abandoned big and unfeasible goals.