Markovic VS. Markovic

Ms. Mirjana Markovic recently shot a new arrow. This time the target is academician Mihailo Markovic, the man regarded as the unofficial SPS ideologue. And while the arrow is flying on its course and Mihailo Markovic is dodging nimbly left and right in order to remain on his feet and prepare some kind of a counter-attack, one recalls that Mirjana Markovic has never once missed those she marked off in her diary notes. She has also never previously chosen a target as important as Mihailo Markovic.

This clash on the Left is being conducted through newspapers and correspondence between Socialist and Communist party ideologues for the time being; and its unknown outcome and consequences has become the central topic in Belgrade political salons. Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj seems to have gone to jail for nothing. Compared to the Markovic vs. Markovic clash and the electricity filling the air as a result, Seselj's jail sentence is turning into a second rate event. He was hit by an arrow in the Belgrade-based bi-weekly ``Duga'' (where Ms. Markovic has a column in which her diary notes are published) long ago.

Like in the good old days of Communism, when quarrels within the former League of Communists of Yugoslavia were described as historical turning points, this latest clash of influential members of the Left, divided for the time being into two parties, has been described in political salons as ``fateful'' and of ``historical'' importance. The ``historical'' is seen in the fact that the SPS and the SK-PJ (League of Communists---Movement for Yugoslavia) have decided to give up all pretenses and declare the tacit agreement on a ``natural alliance'' between the two parties void. Prior to the clash, it was believed that the recently founded United Yugoslav Left (JUL), a political organization rallying 25 parties and movements in which Ms. Markovic plays a leading role, was supposed to serve as an SPS proxy. There was talk that JUL would rally (not take over) all those who had started slipping away from the SPS: those suffering from Yugo-nostalgia and Tito-nostalgia who, confused with the ruling party's constant policy turnabouts, would rather not vote at all any more.

It has been public knowledge for quite some time that a significant number of SPS members have felt greatly embarrassed by Ms. Markovic's public appearances. They have barely managed to keep themselves from making public comments on her diary notes. It was just their loyalty to their party chief, SPS leader Slobodan Milosevic, that kept them from voicing their dissatisfaction in public. Behind the scenes it was possible to hear that, in spite of the fact that Ms. Markovic often appeared as a ``one man band'' and without a strong party to support her, the harm wrought by her influence on SPS policy was often much greater than that of the entire opposition and that her idea of a new Left, which needed ``a new theory and a new organization,'' was obstructive and created confusion. As evidence of her exceptional power it was often mentioned that three ministers from ``Mirjana's party'' had entered Serbian PM Mirko Marjanovic's cabinet although the party didn't have a single deputy seat in either the Federal or the Serbian Assemblies.

The SK-PJ was always the more unruly member of the ``natural alliance.'' From time to time top SK-PJ officials voiced carefully balanced criticism of the authorities and the SPS, always taking great care not to step on Slobodan Milosevic's toes. If Milosevic was mentioned, it was done with great tact. Approximately in the manner in which SK-PJ President Dragomir Draskovic, in a recent newspaper interview, supported Milosevic's foreign policy but was greatly critical of SPS policy in some domestic fields (the transition of ownership, tardiness in stabilizing the economy, Kosovo).

The clash started (at least as far as the public is concerned) with Mihailo Markovic's recent interview to the weekly ``Intervju.'' At first it looked as if the interview would be important inasmuch it would give the most exhaustive explanation so far of the real, especially ideological, background to the Belgrade-Pale (Bosnian Serb political center) clash and an answer to the question why unification with the Bosnian Serbs is now impossible. However, it turned out that the interview was more concerned with what academician Mihailo Markovic had to say about JUL. Mihailo Markovic said that JUL did not stand much of chance in winning a lot of support among Serbian citizens and that it actually created the false impression that there was some kind of pluralism on the Left. Giving his reasons for JUL's outsider position, he mentioned their erroneous betting on the ``resurrection of Socialist Yugoslavia'' and their criticism of the SPS as a ``nationalist party'' which was ``renewing capitalism.''

A sharp reply from JUL addressed to Mihailo Markovic followed swiftly. It was a mixture of disappointment that Mihailo Markovic was refusing to support efforts aimed at uniting Left-oriented forces and an accusation that criticism of JUL came from a man who had thus confirmed his ``nationalist consistency and anti-Yugoslav stand which were dragging this society deeper into mud.'' An elaboration of these theses (and much more) followed in Ms. Markovic's diary notes in ``Duga.'' Ms. Markovic mentions Mihailo Markovic's ``jealousy'' because something ``Left, far more Left and probably more beautiful than the Left'' that he supports had arrived on the political scene. He is accused of arrogance and the question is raised if ``a man who during his long, but one and only life has managed to be a Partisan, a Communist, a member of the Praxis circle, a Socialist and finally a nationalist, can count on being treated seriously in political matters.'' At the end of this text, which has been widely quoted in all the daily papers, Ms. Markovic says that Mihailo Markovic has not behaved as the SPS ideologue and has inflicted great harm on his party. As soon as the last issue of ``Duga'' hit the newsstands, Ms. Markovic received a lot of support from her party comrades in the polemic with Mihailo Markovic. JUL leader, businessman and one time Secret Police member working for counter-intelligence, Nenad Djordjevic, criticized Mihailo Markovic as malicious. Djordjevic believes that the main difference between the SPS and JUL lies in the fact that the SPS is a nationalist party, while JUL wishes to be a civic party which urges equality regardless of faith and nationality. Prominent SK-PJ member Zoran Cicak went farthest when he said that Mihailo Markovic was justifying the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia with a ``Jesuit-like indifference'' on the eve of peace, calling it, at least as far as the Serbs were concerned, a war of liberation. ``From this to the amnesty of those guilty of mass destruction, looting and ethnic cleansing is just a small step. Serb-inhabited enclaves west of the Drina River have been turned into military camps---they are isolated by the international community and demonized in the media. Unfortunately they are administered by the worst Serbs living in this century,'' said Cicak.

Mihailo Markovic has not yet received public support from the SPS. His

reply to Ms. Markovic was sent to all the daily newspapers which had recently carried excerpts from her diary. Only the Belgrade daily ``Borba'' neglected to publish it. In response Mihailo Markovic refutes all accusations against himself and the SPS as being a ``nationalist party.'' From Markovic's denials it becomes obvious that all previous attempts at overcoming this ``clash on the Left'' through inter-party diplomacy have failed.

While waiting to see where Ms. Markovic's latest arrow will strike, the only thing to do is sit and wait for the next issue of ``Duga.'' Others who cite ``well-informed sources'' claim that the announced ``rejuvenation and replacement of a third of the top SPS leadership'' might take place in mid-October. This could mean that Mihailo Markovic will no longer be the official SPS ideologue, something foreseen by General Stevan Mirkovic in March of this year, when he claimed that Ms. Mirjana Markovic had unofficially taken over this post. The cadre broom could sweep away some other top SPS figures who are slow in learning the refrain ``there is no alternative to peace'' or sound unconvincing in their attempts at keeping on course. Errant federal deputy Brana Crncevic is another SPS figure who will probably be axed. There are claims that he sent his resignation to Milosevic long ago. Sparks have been flying in the SK-PJ in the past few weeks too. There has been gossip that Milosevic will gradually merge the SPS into JUL, if the conditions are right.

If forecasts of a ``cadre rejuvenation'' in the SPS prove correct, it will be the first time that the SPS has to face something that opposition parties have already gone through---internal schisms. There were a lot of them this year after various turnabouts and policy changes. The SPS, however, retained its monolithic unity probably thanks to the fact that it has always had several currents which in the end were always prepared to follow the path pointed out by Slobodan Milosevic. At the first multi-party elections in 1990, the SPS tried to achieve the impossible---to be the most nationalist and the most Yugoslav, the most Socialist and the most civic party, but the price was too great. A similar thing happened at the 1992 and 1993 elections, when important internal conflicts and somersaults didn't affect the party's internal idyll. It looks as if some people will have to drop off after this latest Bosnian turnabout.

``Compared to internal schisms among opposition parties, the ruling SPS has managed to preserve internal homogeneity,'' said Vladimir Goati of the Belgrade Institute of Social Sciences, explaining the phenomenon. ``In this respect, the SPS differs from many other former ruling parties in post-Communist countries which invariably split into a `liberal' and `conservative' faction ahead of the first free elections.''

Of all possible outcomes to the ``clash on the Left'' being mentioned these days, the least convincing is the one according to which Slobodan Milosevic might try to neutralize his wife's political activities, or, for the sake of peace in the SPS and at the risk of discord at home, distance himself publicly from her diary notes. Just as it has been proved that Milosevic is too weak to be a new Josip Broz Tito, it has become obvious that Mirjana Markovic is too strong to be a new Jovanka Broz, as some Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) circles would like to see her. This is why there is a growing number of those who believe that Milosevic and his wife are playing a very skillful and confusing game, one which they have always won so far.

Branko Milanovic, who sometimes writes a column in the Belgrade daily ``Borba,'' recently claimed that Slobodan Milosevic and Mirjana Markovic were just pretending to be at odds, but were in fact working as a smooth-running team.

``By presenting herself as a Communist and Leftist, Mirjana Markovic has created an illusion among nationalists allergic to Communism that her husband is not really a ``Communist,'' but a true-blue Serb, and that `she is preventing him from saying so out loud'. Nationalists attribute Milosevic's sometimes feeble defence of the Serbian cause to Mirjana Markovic's evil influence. On the other hand, the Leftists hope that he will return to Tito's path under her beneficial influence. Some support Milosevic because they hope that she will change him, others because they hope that he will stand up to her. And so while they all hope for what they wish to happen, Milosevic continues to rule,'' said Milanovic.

Some will think that this is a malicious view. If it is, then it is much more innocuous than a joke that is making the rounds in Belgrade these days. In the joke, Milosevic, who has developed a sudden liking for Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic, has allegedly decided to be similar to his erstwhile uncompromising enemy and possible future ally in two respects: in his peace orientation and the implementation of that well-tried recipe whereby one's own party is destroyed most efficiently if one's wife is allowed to write columns in the papers.