Political Derby

The past five years have seen an ongoing debate about the historic achievements and significance of the March 9, 1991 demonstrations in Belgrade. Sources close to Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic who kept yelling Charge! from the balcony of the national theatre have been saying that March 9, 1991 will go down as the most important day in Serbian history since W.W.II. Draskovic's political opponents claim that, thanks to his mistakes, much of the accumulated energy of popular dissatisfaction was spent and that an opportunity was missed to really make history by toppling the regime which later dragged us into war and poverty. Over the past five years, the opposition and Draskovic personally slowly forgot the street and tried to change the regime occasionally by thinking about trade with Milosevic.

That March 9, Red Star and Partizan were scheduled to play. The authorities cautiously moved the game to the next day. But the feeling remains that neither the soccer derby nor the political derby are the real thing any more. The game has changed here, the rules are changing constantly, referees and reporters wear the same uniforms as the SPS team.

VREME: Five years later in Serbia, everything is much worse than before March 9, 1991. We saw a war, the failure of a national project, poverty, media darkness, parliamentary life virtually destroyed. In that context, doesn't March 9, 1991 seem an effort in vain?

DRASKOVIC: "Many people tell me that the slogan TV Bastille Must Fall was the perfect diagnosis and that with a free TV, press and radio we would have avoided the war and the Hiroshima that ensued. But at the same time, many say that I lacked courage that day. What courage? Some people are saying I should have taken unarmed young people to take over state TV, get rid of it and have Belgrade repeat the achievement of Bucharest. But, when the people of Bucharest took to the streets, the army joined them, united and they took the TV station. When I arrived at Freedom Square on March 9, I saw a wild readiness by the police to commit slaughter, and it was clear the regime wants to spill the blood of its people. That was confirmed later that evening when tanks rolled out onto the streets of Belgrade.

The next day, when I was in jail, the situation began changing.

When I got out of jail on March 12, I saw the authorities had really been rolling down the street and that just a little wisdom and patience would have toppled the regime."

Obviously the number of discontent people in Serbia is far beyond the opposition's ability to call them to protests like these. How do you explain that?

By the fact that a large number of people aren't aware of their own importance. They are aware of their misery, hopelessness, horror, but they are not aware that they are the individual force that can change things. They expect someone else to do that. And there isn't a political party or individual who can do anything without a desperate people.

Even at elections we have 30% who abstain, who are desperate, who are against the regime but who won't even vote in protest. That is a lack of civil and human awareness that every vote and every participant in a protest is precious.

Don't you think that an excessive price was paid on March 9, 1991. Two lives were lost and nothing was gained. Mitevic did leave but compared to the people now he seems like an example of professional journalism.

We demanded the resignation of five TV executives and they handed them in. The fact that they were replaced by much worse people is something else. We also demanded the resignation of the police minister and got it. But another one came who is even worse.

The dismissed minister continued taking care of the service anyway.

Of course. The only thing we really won was live TV coverage of session in both parliaments. The independent media also got stimulation which helped them survive all through the war. And they were crushed several years after March 9. Two lives were lost and nothing can be more important than the lives of those people. But, it's also true that there would have been many more dead if we had fallen for the mad wish of the regime which wanted much more blood that day. I would say something that many people don't realize and that we weren't aware of on March 9, 1991. That day may turn out to be the greatest defence of the Serb people. The accusation in the world that the Serb people wanted and caused this mad war will have to fall before the truth that dead and wounded fell in the streets of Belgrade. And that the JNA pointed its guns at the people of Belgrade first. The Serbs were the first victims and first targets of that mad power.

The socialists have obviously started a long campaign that you don't have the time or media for. How will the opposition respond?

Just by joining the democratic parliamentary parties on a single electoral list, by joining their financial and propaganda potentials and by going from house to house, village to village, explaining to the citizens of Serbia that the time of lies and cheating is past, and that the elections are not between the SPS and democratic opposition but being for Serbia or not.

Does the joint appearance by the SPO, DS and GSS also mean that those three parties will stand in elections as a coalition?

I hope the democratic parliamentary parties in Serbia will be on one list and I will be glad to see those three parties together on Freedom Square on March 9.

The SPO and DS traded a lot of accusations over the past few years. Now you're appearing together often.

If I were to say that the fault for past events lies only with the DS I would not be honest. We both made mistakes. Most of our disputes stemmed from the attitude towards the war. Now that the war is over we are facing its consequences, an impoverished people, ravaged land, great fear for the future of a country that young people are running from. Those facts shook us and we said that everything, absolutely everything, has to take second place if we are patriots and that our only goal has to be Serbia, our people and saving them from further decay.

So there's no united opposition list.

Says who?

The list that would include all opposition parties, including the Radicals. Seselj won't go with you. He says your always playing the role of the Messiah, that he won't be under your command.

Seselj decided to stand alone in the elections. That's his decision and good luck to him. He has that right, but he has no right to blame anyone else for his decision.

You seem to be relieved Seselj said no...

I admit I'm not sorry that Seselj decided to stand alone. That relieves me of an unpleasant feeling that I'm going against Hitler with Stalin.

Recently, when Studio B fell, you said that regime behavior would soon come back to haunt Milosevic, that the world will not tolerate it. Aren't you overdoing it when you speak of the alleged concern of the world for democratic processes here?

The moment Serbia convinces the EU, US and the entire democratic world of the force of its democratic alternative and great decisiveness of its population to start on a new road, we will get absolute support from the world and vast pressure on Milosevic. Until then, just a few boos. Imagine what won't happen, and I say it won't happen; for half a million people to take to the streets of Belgrade under the slogan Serbia in Europe, Europe in Serbia. There isn't anyone in the EU who wouldn't be happy with that. They aren't our traditional enemies, that's foolishness. Europe is only interested in a stable peace here and there can be no stable peace without a stable Serbia, until it grows strong and is included in Europe. We can't achieve that with projects of China town.

That impression is partly deserved. You have to admit that there hasn't been any opposition here that hasn't been similar to the authorities and didn't try to compete in nationalism with the regime.

Whether it's deserved or not, I don't know but that impression exists and causes great damage to Serbia and that is clear.