Closed for Re-decoration

When the government proposed the budget for 1995, the opposition in the Serbian Parliament submitted 310 amendments. It submitted as many as 500 amendments on the government's package, convinced that the package would cause inflation. The blockade of the Parliament by a large number of amendments had been mentioned even before the budget was proposed. The opposition protested because TV no longer broadcast the Parliament's sessions.

The opposition said it would hold parallel parliamentary sessions in another chamber which is usually occupied by the MP's of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). The Office for the maintenance of public buildings then sent a letter which said the chamber was to be re-decorated and that the works would be "particularly intense after December 20" which seems to have been a deceit because the chamber was locked and it is really difficult to re-decorate a locked room; besides why would anything be re-decorated in the middle of a discussion on the budget which is certainly vital for the state.

Humiliation of the Parliamentary minority resumed on Tuesday, December 26, when the chief of the Parliament's information service did not allow opposition MP's to enter the journalists' room, because, he explained, it was occupied and the journalists had to do their job.

Vuk Draskovic, the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), suddenly entered the main chamber at a moment when the MP's were voting, to submit a protest to President Tomic. The MP's fidgeted for a while (Radmilo Bogdanovic, former police minister and current Serbian police emminence grise kept turning around). Tomic warned Draskovic not to interrupt the vote and urgently sent the secretary to enable the minority to hold "that news conference." The security was removed and the parallel parliament began its constituent session.

With this move, the opposition put an end to "the war about Bosnia," "returned home" and is now trying to put aside the ideological differences and to concentrate on the protection of parliamentarianism. The opposition is trying to be in and out of the parliament, to follow the official agenda, to submit amendments, but to do things in its own way.

Vuk Draskovic was disappointed and said it would be reasonable for Serbia after Dayton to start moving toward Europe, democratization and extinguishing of hatred, but that now that the war in Bosnia was over, the regime was starting a war against the opposition instead. Draskovic maintains that through an agreement on a limited number of key questions the opposition should achieve a "joint list against the communists," a coalition whose job would be to pass the acts which would be the foundations of a new system, after which new elections would follow.

The opposition leaders have adjusted their language to the new circumstances. Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) started off by saying that the communists had destroyed Serbia by separating it from the rest of the world. He said the parallel parliament was to show the citizens of Serbia that the opposition was ready to run the parliament and the country.

Democratic Party (DS) leader Zoran Djindjic said that politics as an expression of the sovereignty of citizens was killed in Serbia, that politics no longer existed anywhere, neither in the parties which had been pushed to the margin nor in the institutions. He proposed four reforms: the reforms of the state, business, pension system and education.

Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Kostunica said a foreign delegation was surprised to find out that the Parliament held its last session two months ago and that the session lasted two days at a time when many foreign parliaments were spending most of their time discussing Yugoslavia and Bosnia. The disbanding of the Parliament in 1993 showed that the socialists were no longer capable of managing what was then a majority and that in the present-day situation the parliament was indirectly disbanded. According to Kostunica, the socialists cannot rule without the parliamentary minority which represents the majority of voters and the opposition ought to return its parliamentary mandates in order to accelerate new elections.

Democratic Union of Vojvodina Hungarians (DZVM) leader Andras Agoston compared this unity of the opposition with the unity which existed in March 1991 and expressed hope that this was the beginning of a race toward Europe.

Civil Alliance of Serbia (GSS) leader Vesna Pesic, trying to define joint tasks, said that sovereignty of people did not exist in Serbia and that neither did the parliamentary life, nor human and minority rights; she said that even the regime and the state did not exist, that the ruling group were neither communists as claimed by the radicals, nor nationalist as claimed by the Civil Alliance, nor peace-makers as claimed by the SPS, but that they were simply a looting gang.

All that the official TV said about the parallel parliament were the condemnations by socialist officials who had remained in the Parliament.

Dragan Tomic in his statement for the state-owned TV compared the parallel parliament to the parallel Kosovo parliament in 1990. However, what the humiliated opposition MP's are saying bears significance, particularly because they represent over two million voters, certainly more than those who remained in the chamber and voted. From that aspect, the Parliament is ahead of being self-disbanded. The next regular session is scheduled for the first work-day in March, the time when the Socialist congress will be in process, which means that a possible special session will certainly be evaded.

Unlike the central-eastern European countries, where the parliaments have dominated since the breakdown of communism, the parliaments in Serbia and Russia have institutionally and non-institutionally been pushed to the margins of key political events.

The MP's of SRS, DSS, SPO,GSS and a number DS MP's practically have not been taking part in the public parliamentary life which is carried out in the rhythm: long break - short vote. The Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been on holiday more than in session for over a year and a half.

According to studies by politicologist Vladimir Goati and constitutional law experts Professors Miodrag Jovicic and Pavle Nikolic, the Serbian constitution has ensured the absolute superiority of the President over the Parliament. According to the Serbian Constitution, the president's acts are not even subject to the Constitutional court.

SPS has in the past period acted as a "party-state" relying on the authority of the president of the republic; it has ensured internal homogeneity, despite sharp political turns and only occasional purges (Borisav Jovic, Milorad Vucelic in autumn 1995).

Since the multi-party system was introduced in Serbia, four governments have replaced one another by the will of the ruling party. The present-day government has two ministers from the New Democracy, two former members of the Democratic Party and several members of the United Left (JUL). The former governments had a few "non-party" ministers, but in fact, they were all single-party governments. When the "coalition" between the radicals and socialist broke in 1993, the government was facing a fall. President of the Republic then disbanded the parliament and the government governed for four months without parliamentary control. The position of the federal government is not defined either and there have been a number of requests to recall it.

The public opinion rates the governments very low, especially compared to the rating of President Milosevic, the army and police, but the rating of the parliament is even lower. A recent research of the Institute of Social Studies shows that less than one-third of the people have confidence in the parliament.

This year's autumn session of the Serbian Parliament, which began on October 24, continued without the opposition parties although they were the ones who proposed a vote on confidence in the government and demanded the replacement of five ministers - the ministers of agriculture, internal affairs, education, health and judiciary.

The opposition could not compete with the governments partly due to the numerous internal conflicts - the split between DS and DSS in 1992, purge or split in DS in 1995, split in SPO in 1994, split in SRS and formation of the National Radical Party in 1994, splits in DZVM etc.

Therefore, one ought to be sceptical toward the present-day willingness of the versatile opposition to cooperate. The recently declared harmony is contradictory to the current unifications and disintegrations on the serbian political scene. Djindjic is being united with once ideologically very distant Paroski who was in 1990 towed by SPO and he later chose to leave. DS is forming the Democratic Alliance with DSS, Serbian Liberal Party and Rakitic's National Party formed by SPO dissidents, which means the coalition might irritate Draskovic. New Democracy (ND) whose programme is in a way close to programmes of some opposition parties is now in the government and the parliament's majority, etc.

All pre-election and inter-election coalitions have fallen to pieces - the United Opposition 1990, DEPOS 1002, DEPOS 1993, the coalition of civil parties formed in 1990.

The Serbian Parliament at the end of the spring session 1995 adopted the decision to protect the people from the opposition by banning live TV broadcasts of the Parliament's sessions.

MP's were often not aware that they their behaviour should defend the dignity of people's deputies. They talked, gossiped and spread out intolerance and xenophobia instead. The authority of the MP's is weak and undermined by a number of scandals and disgraceful moves.

There have been no strong public pressures to protect parliamentarianism, at least not like the ones directed toward the "liberation of TV Bastille" in the past, nor any kind of visible persistence in the protection of the dignity of the Parliament.