The New Optimism

Milosevic's appearance in the Serbian Parliament was not on the official agenda: only one paragraph of the summons to the emergency meeting of the Serbian Parliament mentioned that the MPs would be addressed by the President of Serbia. The issues discussed were Milosevic's failures, as well as the events of last March 9, and the decision reached could be used some day as a source for Constitutional law. They speak of the support lent by the Serbian Parliament to the President of the Republic, his politics and his initiative to unify Serbia and Montenegro.

After the talk with Lord Carrington, the day before, Milosevic claimed that there was an increasing confidence among the international community that the right to "the Yugoslav option" was equally acceptable as the right to secession. He also said he was hoping that the international community would be realistic in acknowledging the actual state of affairs. Oskar Kovac, an economist, also claimed that there is a fresh encouragement coming from the suggestions and projects proposed recently, which insist on the possibility of a Yugoslav state which could provide its continuity from the existing international legal continuity. The Foreign Minister Mr. Vladislav Jovanovic defended that idea in the Parliament, claiming that it offered an advantage in the form of an automatic recognition of sovereignty and an automatic renewal of around 7000 inter-state contracts.

Certain politicians from the opposition have been skeptical about this possibility. Micunovic was jeering at the fact that the unification is being carried out silently, without flags and fanfares.

Vojislav Kostunica opposed Milosevic's thesis that other republics might be willing to join that association, reminding of the fact that the Prime Minister had recently tested that readiness, with only the Montenegrins answering his call. Milosevic then claimed that it would not be better for Serbia to inclose itself within its borders and discard the idea of a common state, suggesting that the Parliament accept the proposal concerning the unification of Serbia and Montenegro, which was accomplished outside the agenda...

With regards to political geography, Milosevic attacked the concept of the opposition concerning cantons in Serbia, claiming that no state would accept it voluntarily, implying that he might have to do it, if he is forced to.

The socialists have reiterated Baker's statement several times (that the war was touched off by secessionism), but did not mention the statement of the American Congress (concerning endangered human and national rights in Sandzak, Vojvodina and Kosovo).

In other words, Milosevic claims that he is about to realize his political objectives, an argument he is using to fend off the most severe criticism of the opposition that under his leadership Serbia has lost all the battles it fought in this century. He and minister Jovanovic unobtrusively withdrew from the idea of annexing the Serbian Krajinas to Serbia, while repeating that their homeland would go on helping them but that Serbia never wanted to annex those regions. Milosevic only said that he would help in his further negotiations the Krajinas to realize their right to self-determination and that Serbia would recognize every consensus which is reached in Bosnia and that the status of the Krajinas would be resolved in further negotiations.

Milosevic insisted on new optimism, as he spoke on November 27, 1990 in Kragujevac. "We in Serbia have both economic and development policies, which help us in solving short-term and long-term economic problems". When he was at the height of his power Milosevic used to promise a Swedish standard of living in ten years' time and, on February 27, 1992 he put an accent on his speech in the Serbian Parliament on "completing the process of industrialization without the use of cruel methods". Nailed down by the opposition Milosevic promised again "an increase in incomes and employment". He claimed that "the interest of foreign investors in investing in energetics

and traffic was so great that Serbia had no need to chase investors around the world" despite the fact that the night before he had said that he hoped the economic blockade against Serbia, which, according to him, was unjustified, would be lifted.

Production capacity have been used only 30% to 40%, salaries are less than 150 marks a month, monthly inflation is approaching 30%. Last year, losses exceeded accumulation by six times, the standard of living fell by 27% and the deteriorating living standard will especially affect 800 000 pensioners and 160 000 refugees from Croatia. Other consequences include: psychological tension among the population, the unnecessary stocking of supplies, the lack of business initiatives, the lack of capital, the breakdown of communications, the loss of the market, the enormous cost of keeping the security forces in Kosovo and in the Republic, the increasingly unbearable cost of keeping the Army, as well as the rising cost of taking care of the refugees. Zoran Djindjic (a democrat) addressed Milosevic: "You know very well that the robbing of public property in Serbia going on now exceeds that which went on for the past 50 years".

Milomir Babic (the Farmers' Party) stressed that agriculture was in dire straits and that an ordinary worker could buy only 10kg of meat or 10 packages of washing powder.

Dragoljub Micunovic, the leader of the Democratic Party asked: "Can you name but a single thing that is not worse than it was last year? Are we making a progress in any way? It could be that you played well, but you've lost the match. Aren't finally going to accept the fact that power is transient. Great statesmen like De Gaulle, Margaret Thatcher and Gorbachev have handed in their resignations too".

Many MPs have had a copy of Milosevic's book and there was a general quest for his speeches. The opposition tried to nail Milosevic down, to uncover his false promises. Zoran Djindjic, a democrat, said directly: "It is no time either for warming up old speeches, or for warming up old promises". Milosevic was more dignified than his defenders.

The socialists based their defence of the regime on the premise that the overthrow of Milosevic's regime would destabilize Serbia and would severely impair its position in

the finale of the negotiations concerning future political relations on the Yugoslav territory. They put a special emphasis on their quest for peace, using the rhetoric from the December elections.

The tension was aggravated by the announcement of the March demonstrations. The statement of Vojislav Kostunica that the President of the Republic violated the Constitution several times and especially during the nine months of war, caused an outcry. Milosevic has never informed the Parliament of his secret negotiations with Tudjman in Karadjordjevo and Brussels.

Milosevic concluded the debate by confidently stating that he would go on doing as he has been doing until now. The best proposal in such an atmosphere seems to have been the one put forward by Slobodan Rakitic (Serbian Revival Movement), who said that the Parliament should be dismissed as unnecessary.

The impression after that tiring day is that the opposition has nothing new to say in Parliament. Political conflicts in Serbia have evidently been moved outside the Parliament, where they have been gaining momentum.

Democrat Milan Batic said after stating that the petition for Milosevic's resignation had been signed by 320,000 citizens of Serbia that they intended to collect six to seven hundred thousand signatures. They claim to have tested the sample of their like-minded compatriots stating that only one out of four of those who agree with the petition have signed it.