Scandals, Rifts And Walkouts

Last week the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) avoided the possibility of a marathon summer debate by the very fact that they achieved a majority in the Assembly. SPS MPs talk less than the opposition, they don't seem to like speaking, and are very happy to let some of their baser members make all further debate pointless with their vulgarities. At one time they used Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), for this purpose.

Last week the Radicals resorted to a formula which has proved rather successful in resolving political differences on the Serbian political scene. They started criticizing the Socialists for having to ask Mirjana Markovic's (Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's wife) approval for everything.

Seselj started the ball rolling with ungentlemanly attacks against Ms. Markovic, after she had called him a ``Turk'' in one of her texts, and the SRSSPS clash became personal. The opposition claims that the spectre of ``an affronted Presidential wife'' was the reason that Speaker Dragan Tomic cut short Radical MP Tomislav Nikolic in the Assembly. Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic recalled that Hilary Clinton, as the President's wife came in for her share of insults, and that his wife Danica had often been insulted. Draskovic added the lady in question (Ms. Markovic) should defend herself, since she had chosen to marry the president.

The opposition had another motive in diverting the debate to this subject. The Yugoslav United Left (YUL), a coalition of 24 small parties with Communist leanings, was formed last week. It is headed by Ms. Markovic, whom many consider the informal ideologue and personnel officer of the SPS. The setting up of a new radio station ``Kosava'' with Marija Milosevic, the President's daughter, as editorinchief, was another reason. Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Kostunica sees images of dictatorship in all this: authoritarian power, family rule, court intrigues. Democratic Party (DS) leader Zoran Djindjic views the forming of YUL as Milosevic's strategy in moving the SPS towards the center.

The SPS still fear Draskovic's populist strength, and it keeps an eye on the SPO while battling with the Radicals. Serbia#s former Police Minister Radmilo Bogdanovic, said in an interview to ``Radio Jagodina'' on June 4: ``The SPO and the SRS are sinking into quicksand.''

According to the Radicals, the yearlong SPSSRS clash started with Milosevic's acceptance of the VanceOwen plan. The clash became public last autumn during the marathon debate on confidence in Nikola Sainovic's government, when Milosevic dissolved the Serbian Assembly. The SPS started accusing the SRS of fascism and conducted a campaign against them. The campaign abated with time, perhaps as the SPS wasn't sure about the outcome of the war in Bosnia.

It seems that the SPS have decided to stop the Radicals after the first incident. Tomic first cautioned Nikolic, then called a recess, and then threatened to end the session. After realizing that there was a quorum in the Assembly (there were 143 deputies in the chamber), Tomic proposed that Nikolic be removed from the chamber, after which 92 MPs voted ``yes'' and seven ``no.'' After the recess Nikolic asked Tomic several times why there were so many policemen in the Assembly, to which Tomic replied that they were members of the Assembly security. The Radicals could have guessed that several score policemen in plain clothes would enter the chamber during the recess, and counted on making the most of the scandal which would follow.

The Radicals behaved in the same manner two months ago when they prevented Yugoslav Assembly security from throwing out their MP Drasko Markovic who poured a glass of water over Speaker Radoman Bozovic. Bozovic's position at the time was more delicate as Markovic had mentioned his involvement in the socalled ministerial affair. But he received permission from the MPs to remove the MP. Before that two other MPs had been removed without a vote being taken on the matter.

MP Drasko Markovic walked towards the door, but sat down at Seselj's suggestion. The Radicals then surrounded their party member preventing the security from throwing him out of the chamber. One policeman was heard to cry: ``Mr. deputy, allow me to do my job,'' to which Seselj replied: ``You won't do your job!''

Charges were later brought against Seselj for obstructing an official in carrying out his duty, and criminal proceedings were instigated when he insulted President Milosevic at the court hearing. The scandal over the disappearance of a video of the parliamentary incident from the court room helped the Radicals turn the beginning of the trial into a farce.

The authorities don't like their authority to be undermined in this way. On the other hand, the Radicals have realized that only such behavior will help improve their rating and have continued with the mockery. Last week they repeated the scene in the Serbian Assembly. They surrounded Nikolic in order to stop the police from reaching him.

However, compared to the incident in the Federal Assembly which received full media coverage, this time the TV cameras were switched off immediately. Opposition MPs claim that TV Belgrade has footage of what took place, but that the tape is locked up. There don't seem to have been any unbiased witnesses in the chamber. The Serbian Radicals claim that the police dragged them about the chamber and beat them. Nikolic allegedly fainted after one the policemen ``twisted his collar'' after which his blood pressure rose and he received medical aid. One Radical MP even told the journalists that Nikolic had been stabbed, which wasn't true. The journalists could hear sounds of a fight coming from the chamber, pushing and kicking at the entrance to the chamber and cussing, with President Milosevic's name being mentioned. That evening Radical leaders allegedly barely managed to prevent their members from taking to the streets.

Nikolic claims that he recognized some of Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan's men among those who had beaten the Radicals, men he had met while fighting in Knin.

This is an old storythe opposition claim that uniformed persons from Krajina were seen during the political clashes in Belgrade on March 9, 1991 and in summer 1993 when Vuk and Danica Draskovic were arrested and beaten up.

So far the police have entered the Assembly building on several occasions and have not paid much attention to parliamentary immunity. (Draskovic was arrested in the Assembly rooms on March 9, 1991; in June 1993 when he was arrested, the MP cards of SPO deputies were kicked around). There are many details which point to behavior which undermines the authority of the deputies.

During the followup to last week's Assembly session, all opposition parties demanded a Board of Inquiry to look into the scandal and find out who ordered the police to enter the Assembly; the entire opposition believes that parliamentary integrity was seriously damaged. They also reminded the Socialists that they had tolerated the behavior of the Radicals for a long time, especially their leader Vojislav Seselj who had systematically undermined the Assembly's credibility. The Socialists did not reply to this criticism, and Speaker Dragan Tomic said that he was responsible for the fact that Assembly security (not policemen) had entered the chamber and intervened against the Radicals. Tomic claimed that he was defending the authority of the Assembly. He asked the deputies to relieve him of his duties if they thought that he had made a mistake. Opposition MPs took no notice of the offer since they didn't have enough votes to dismiss Tomic. They passed up the opportunity of starting a broad debate and really making an issue out of the question of parliamentary immunity. They insisted on the Board of Inquiry, possibly wishing to question Interior Minister Zoran Sokolovic. The Socialists rejected the proposal with a onevote majority, after New Democracy deputies, their government coalition partner, refused to commit themselves. The Radicals then walked out, and the rest of the opposition continued the already lost battle to push through new political laws. Their speeches were not bad, but were unable to hide their disastrous lack of unity.

In the past six months a bug has started to eat away at the fabric of the Serbian opposition. After the elections, a faction broke away from the SRS. Rifts have appeared in other big parties. A group led by Slobodan Raketic left the SPO. The Democratic Party led by Zoran Djindjic is still in one piece even though it is being shaken by internal strife which will probably end in the forming of still another party. The Farmers# Party of Serbia led by Milomir Babic has split in two. The Democratic Community of Ethnic Hungarians (DZVM) has split. Even the Serbian National Renewal Party (SNO) led by Mirko Jovic has split into two parties with the same name and the same symbols. The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) led by Vojislav Kostunica is the only exception. Kostunica has started negotiations with Nikola Milosevic of the Serbian Liberal Party (SLS) for a unification of the DSS and the SLS. The opposition is being fragmented, but the criteria are unclearthere are no divisions into left and right factions, nor into liberal and authoritarian, or rich and poor ones.

In the debate on the draft law on television, there were many open clashes. Draskovic accused Djindjic of having made a deal with the Socialists and called SPO MPs to walk out of the Assembly. The debate caused another walkout, but different from the one the Radicals.

The scene is reminiscent of the time after WW2 and the forming of the National Frontthe fragmentation and thwarting of opponents and the setting up of a patronage over breakaway factions and the division of Serbia into the winning Partisan side and the Chetnik losers. It is interesting that all those in the opposition who were left or right have fallen apart, while those parties which are close to the SPS, both left and right, have united, including the YUL coalition and the attempt by Arkan's Party of Serb Unity (SSJ) at rallying nonparliamentary parties. The SPS has a whole army of party members at its disposal188 community and municipal boards, around 8,000 local boards and over 450,000 members. The last figure is probably exaggerated, but without a doubt, the Socialists have the most developed party network, based on an apparatus inherited from the former League of Communists and the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Yugoslavia and the state apparatus.

Radical MP Tomislav Nikolic has announced the appearance of a United Serbian Right (SUD) as a counterbalance to YUL. There are many speculations with regard to this. Opposition MP Milan Bozic said that the scandal in the Assembly might have been masterminded from Pale (Bosnian Serb political center) in order to instigate a clash between the war and peace lobbies in Serbia. Zarko Korac of the Civic Alliance believes that the SRS and the SPS, at least judging by their voters and many other details were, and still are, one party, and that we are in fact, witnessing a rift in the SPS for the first time.

A cynical political analyst has compared the current situation with a large railway intersection, in which carriages are shunted in the direction of Cyprus or The Hague. In the background of all these bizarre happenings, Seselj is demanding that Milosevic continue to oppose international proposals on Bosnia. The DSS, the DS and some segments of the Serbian Orthodox Church have lately expressed their support for Karadzic, especially at those moments when it was thought that Milosevic was angry with him. This has given rise to speculations that Karadzic, who is being ostracized by the Serbian state media, is now becoming the focal point of the Serbian national opposition which is opposed to Milosevic.

The man on the street has now stopped speculating about the maps and is focusing on leader, coming up with the following team: Karadzic as President of an allSerb state, Seselj as Foreign Minister, Kostunica as Assembly Speaker and Djindjic as Prime Minister. All this is just speculation based on the probable balance of power at this particular moment. In the latest scandal Draskovic defended the integrity of the SRS, and condemned political violence against them, but gave no sign of joining Seselj. Draskovic decided to walk out of the Assembly a day after the Radicals. He did not follow the political manoeuver of his political partners Kostunica and Djindjic who supported Karadzic, and consistently sent Karadzic messages to stop the war, thus encouraging Milosevic to exert pressure on Karadzic. Draskovic asked dramatically in the Assembly if any of the deputies knew of the Bosnian war lobby's intentions to send an army across the Drina River, into Serbia. After Draskovic had walked out of the Assembly, Milorad Vucelic, director of Television Serbia and a highranking SPS, said that Draskovic's words were dynamite aimed at blowing up the Serbian concept.

In early July Draskovic suggested that all opposition partners should walk out of the Assembly, forcing the Socialists to put the question of war and peace on the agenda. He said that the Socialists who were now making signs that they wished to improve their international rating would have to make concessions to the opposition with regard to television or laws concerning political parties. Djindjic was the first to reject this (``Walking out of the Assembly is Draskovic's only aim''), believing that the opposition couldn't do much outside the Assembly, and that the Socialists were still wary of Draskovic's populist strength, and that the revival of nonparliamentary struggles could jeopardize his position as the spearhead of the socalled constructive opposition. Kostunica said that the Serbian Assembly could not ensure the necessary conditions for a debate, and that it wasn't a proper Assembly, leaving the door wide open for an eventual walk out.

The outcome was such that the clash between the Serbian Radicals and the Socialists flared up, and could even escalate if Karadzic makes a move in Bosnia which would humiliate Milosevic too much. Draskovic is a more radical peacemaker, and just as he earlier accused state television of warmongering, so is he now accusing it of hiding the advantages of peace. Seselj wasn't in Belgrade

during the latest incident, but officially on vacation on the Montenegrin coast. Without the support of state television which would greatly help their case, Seselj's Radicals, really don't have any interest in depriving themselves of the Assembly as a platform from which they can accuse President Milosevic of ``national treason.'' By creating this scandal, they have helped legitimize their position and show the world that a struggle is going on in Serbia against a war party, while Draskovic on the other hand is trying to force a more radical break with the regime's war policy.