Embarrassment and Pictures

Deputies from five opposition parties walked out of the Serbian parliament on October 24 after a majority vote to reject a proposal for live TV coverage of the session. 118 Socialist party (SPS) and New Democracy (ND) deputies voted against the coverage, seven voted for the proposal and three abstained. The vote strengthened the "working conclusion" from the previous session (July 26, late at night outside the agenda, 199 votes for) on "abolishing the achievement of March 9, 1991" (famous opposition demonstrations against government controlled television).

The Socialists have been persistently trying to limit TV coverage; in 1991 (Mirko Kulic) then on May 15 the same year (Dusan Govorcin), 1992 (Ratomir Vico on behalf of the government), March 1993 (when the rule of parliament was changed to allow a ban on live coverage of sessions). Miladin Tosic, SPS, proposed a complete ban on live coverage on December 24, 1994; the culture and information board was due to discuss the ban on December 28 but the board meeting was postponed several times. Although that proposal is formally still being processed, a compromise solution was adopted on July 26 (Zoran Andjelkovic deputy parliament group chief) to get around procedures (debates by boards and the government) with a working conclusion. That solution was disputed on August 4 in the constitutional court by the Foundation for the Development of Democracy and the Democratic Party.

The Socialists are now justifying the ban with the behavior of the Radicals (incidents, obstruction, charging Slobodan Milosevic with treason and slanders about Mira Markovic) but they're actually provoking the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) which considers TV coverage part of its political capital and are sending a strong message that they don't want to normalize relations with the SPO which they have been agreeing with lately in terms of the peace negotiations.

The SPO is now at war on two fronts. Party spokesman Ivan Kovacevic accused Radicals (SRS), Democratic Party (DS) and Serbian Democratic party (DSS) deputies of "giving legitimacy to the Socialists decision to ban TV coverage of parliament sessions" by staying in parliament and told the Socialists that providing the electorate with an insight into the work of parliament "is a precondition for Serbia's return to Europe".

The DS rejected the accusation as a pure lie and added that SPO deputies did not come to the session to "avoid a clash with their new coalition partners the SPS".

DS president Zoran Djindjic said a parliamentary crisis is underway because representatives of 65% of the electorate are not in parliament. Kostunica's DSS spoke of the end of parliamentarism in Serbia.

The Socialists are confidently counting on the fuss by varied opposition quickly blowing over and their return to parliament. Parliament Speaker Dragan Tomic said the boycott is a little tantrum by a small part of the opposition and added that parliament will be more efficient without live coverage but his assumptions were discredited on Wednesday, October 25.

That day discovered a scandal from the journalist balcony in Parliament when NTV Studio B cameras showed a SPS deputy voting with two cards ("one for me, one for my colleague"), which would have to be considered a violation of the law and parliamentary rules despite the fact speaker Tomic said those "games and jokes" were not covered by the rules. The fact that parliament security threw the camera crew out of the building just increased the embarrassment of the ruling party, and served to illustrate that the new limitations of public involvement increased irresponsibility, and shorter procedures raised the level of self-will among the majority.