Dragan Tomic Guardian of Serbia During the Negotiations

by Dejan Anastasijevic

By Serbian Constitution, the Parliament Speaker will replace the President of Serbia when he is not available to fulfill his position

Date and place of birth: Belgrade, 1936.

Education: School of Technology, Belgrade University.

Marital status: Married with two children.

Career: Spent 25 years in the Rakovica tractor tire plant Rekord, first as an assistant engineer in 1962 and left as general director in 1986. President of the Belgrade City Socialist Alliance of the Working People Conference (until 1989), Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) parliament group chief in the Serbian parliament, acting director and director (1990) of NIS Jugopetrol (still holds the job). Serbian Parliament Speaker since 1994.

Other posts: Chairman of the RTV Politika management board, president of the Yugoslav Engineers Association.

Decorations: Order of Labor with silver wreath and Order of Merit with silver wreath, Obilic medal awarded by Arkan's Serb Volunteer Guard.

How he became parliament speaker: In February 1994, with the help of four "phantom" votes thrown into the ballot box by unidentified opposition deputies (prior to the SPS-New Democracy coalition he didn't have enough of his own party's deputies to back him up).

In fact: "President Milosevic felt that my calmness and stability could be favorable for a situation where we want political cooperation and agreement... Milosevic obviously felt that I was suitable to seek compromises because I'm not argumentative; I never demean anyone and I don't get personal."

Still: "Tolerance has to be mutual. No one can expect tolerance only from me."

Why does the opposition want him out: Because he failed to call any of this year's parliament sessions in the time proscribed by the rules, because he enabled the adoption of a law on abolishing live TV coverage of parliament sessions and, finally, because he enabled SPS and affiliated party deputies to play with the ID cards and adopt decisions without the necessary number of votes.

What does he say to that: "Parliament (without TV coverage and the opposition) was much more efficient which confirms what we always claimed; that live coverage draws the attention of deputies and the population away from the real issues."

What did he say six months ago: "I do not want to see live TV coverage abolished because I feel the public should know what we're doing. It's a kind of public control."

The secret of his success: "If people who count on me think I have the characteristics that can be used in the current situation, I am ready to put myself at their service. I don't like uncertainty, I have to know what the next step is at every moment because I can't do anything that would profit my career and damage my family. I think I found a compromise there."