One Lie Less

The affair concerning National Bank Governor Dragoslav Avramovic almost by accident coincided with workers' strikes. The protest of Avramovic's conscience did not have much in common with the protest of their empty stomachs, but the coincidence suddenly turned out to be logical and legitimate. A bond was formed between them and so the Family simultaneously got two pieces of bad news which amplified each other and together sounded really bad.

It is a miracle how the workers in Nis, through the thickest media curtain, through all the wax which was daily poured into their ears, managed to hear and understand the governor. One of the security experts decorated on 13 May must have thought how wonderful it would be to prove that the innocent looking old man was, in fact, the head of a conspiracy network which organizes strikes and protest. But the fact that the workers demanding salaries cried: "Avram, don't print money!" proved that the whole system had failed.

First of all, it proved that the whole, expensive, false information network was no longer capable of explaining to jobless workers that the Albanians, opposition parties, the West or some internal shortcomings which would be removed on the way, were to blame for everything. The services for discouraging and frightening also failed, because it was their duty to convince the workers that nothing could be accomplished by going on strike and that it was particularly stupid and dangerous to go out in the streets. No one managed to push into their hands a single positive slogan or Slobodan Milosevic's picture, not even a black-and-white one. None of the false activists of the false Left tried to give them a hot speech on justice and injustice; it was evident that if anyone had tried, he would have been thrown for a swim in the cold Nisava river.

The worst thing of all was that, ahead of the governor's planned liquidation, workers in Nis and some in Belgrade loudly supported the governor who wanted privatization and not inflation. Thus, these people, the class that every Leftist party counts on, turned their backs on the used-up deceit about social ownership and alleged protection of property from selling it for next to nothing. Another, even more unpleasant novelty was that these same workers became picky about the money that was offered to them. They no longer wanted new bank-notes, but only the creased and used ones. This deceit was used up, too.

Nevertheless, the strike in Nis ended or was halted; other protests are somehow halted, hushed down or ignored and the governor is being removed. Does this mean that the Family may be at ease and deduce that everything is going well? The answer is yes, provided they do not look were they are going. And I am quite sure that they are determined not to look and not to see what the rest of us already see.

If the workers in Nis at the top of their voices cried "liar" and "thief" to Mile Ilic, the Family's chief local trustee, then most of Serbia must be saying the same to Milosevic and all of the Family. This means that they have failed in their attempt to persuade the people to forget the war, deny any ties with nationalist madness, conceal the defeat and finally return to Tito's path, as if nothing ever happened and as if such a path existed.

This idea, conceived mainly in the head of Mrs. Mira Markovic was, to put it politely, too daring. Such a solution does not exist and the Family, under such circumstances, cannot stay in power in any elections, whatever the election system, no matter how the TV operated, even if both Mitevic and Vucelic were back, even if the votes were counted by Mihalj Kertes... All of this would lead to the canceling of the elections, to ruling without elections, which was also a characteristic of Tito's path and which would not be accepted in these circumstances, but this is not our topic yet.

We knew, of course, that it was no problem for the Family to remove governor Avramovic. The question was how much it would cost and what would be done after that. It turned out to be very expensive. The governor played the ending unexpectedly, self-confidently, precisely and efficiently. He had the initiative, did not hesitate for a moment, made no deals, did not let them pull themselves together and score half a point. He destroyed the fiction about continuity, showed that the Family did not care about joining the world and that it only wanted to get hold of the keys to the mint in Topcider, while at the same time he disgraced the alleged ministers and prime ministers.

Never did we have such an insight into the misery of people, government and politics, the misery which was for so long concealed by the conspiratorial manner in which the Family conducted its affairs. The governor clearly won public confidence. His age, simple manner of speech and careless looks suddenly became his advantage. Unlike the ministers in their ironed suits, he looked like someone who did not think only of himself. Before he said or did something, he won credibility by his image, that is, by the lack of care for his image.

Considering the local customs and attitudes, it is very important that Avramovic, before being removed, showed that in fact he was leaving them because he could no longer stand them, because he was convinced their case was hopeless. In the past, those who stepped down were either forced to leave, defeated or compromised; usually it was the case of wrong grouping or symbolic sacrifice of false culprits. These were routine cleansings and renewals within the Family and such losers looked the same or worse than the ones that remained. No one has ever thought that it is a great pity that we no longer get to see and hear brains and characters such as Bora Jovic, Vucelic and Mihailo Markovic.

The procedure of the governor's removal also showed the similarities and differences between Serbia and Montenegro. This case was an ideal chance for Montenegro to legally defend the man and principles which it allegedly opted for, but the Podgorica godfathers easily agreed with the Belgrade godfathers. The great story about Montenegrin capitalism and Serbian socialism rapidly melted down to reasonable size.

The thing is only that the two families have different attitudes toward legalization of business. One lot think they could do it with the help of the West while the others do not believe in such a possibility and expect something from the East. The Montenegrin Family believes that one day they could hand over the rule and keep the prey and business, while the Serbian Family think that by losing the rule, they would lose everything and that legalization can be put off.

In the meantime, the remaining legitimacy is falling down and apart, as the strike in Nis showed. Money was urgently provided, some directors were sacrificed and the workers were allowed not to pay the bills. It is quite clear that they have nothing to pay the electricity and water with, but it is now also clear that without money there is no law. The showdown with the governor shows that money will now be printed without control, which will again lead to chaos and anarchy.

The Family is in the position to choose between a catastrophe and a catastrophe. They will probably be choosing a little of each. We deserve to enjoy watching them hesitate, only it is a pity that we cannot watch them from a greater distance.