Price of Power

Marija Obradovic, PhD in Political Studies and Associate of the Institute for Contemporary History of Serbia, published in the "Republika" a study entitled "The Ruling Party: Ideology and Technology of Domination." (The Institute for Contemporary History of Serbia in 1995 published Marija Obradovic's study entitled "People's Democracy in Yugoslavia 1945-52").

VREME will publish two instalments of the typical parts of the text published in the "Republika," which refer to the latest ideology and technique of the ruling party. The text was abridged and graphically designed (including the titles for certain parts of the text) by VREME staff, while the object of this analysis is to blame for the situation the reader faces every day.

(...)The Socialist Party of Serbia is at present the only ex-communist Eastern European party which has managed to remain in power after the "famous 1989 revolution" (...)

SPS ideology gravitates around two main points on which the post-war European communism had based its political legitimacy. One of these points is the essential one and represents a socio-historical goal - the establishment and maintenance at all costs of the state-owned property as the basic social relation.

The other point is the mobilizing one and refers to the so-called national question. When formulating the national interest of Serbia and Serbs in Yugoslavia, SPS inaugurated a collective, traditional formula of nationalism, intending to attract the traditional part of the society. The society created at the time of communism was encouraged by the ideas of state-owned property, social safety and by the creation of the illusion accomplished through skillful political tactics, that SPS advocated the preservation of the Yugoslav federation, equality of the peoples, social justice and peaceful settlement of inter-ethnic conflicts in Yugoslavia.

SPS political activity is constantly on a communist-nationalist pendulum and the amplitude has always depended on the concrete internal and external political, economic and social factors and circumstances (...)

Instrument of Rule - Instigation of War

War surroundings and Serbia's involvement in the war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia were used by SPS to prevent internal social differentiation, democratization and modernization. SPS's war policy was accompanied by the policy of pauperising the Serbian citizens by means of hyper-inflation. At the same time it created the illusion that the state was running appropriate social policy and preventing dismissal of employees. These political instruments dominated from June 1991 when the former Yugoslav People's Army intervened in Slovenia which had proclaimed independence, until the early elections for the Serbian Parliament held on December 19, 1993.

Both ruling techniques were based on the usage of political myths (the "Kosovo myth," "Yugoslavia as an error of the Serbian people," "Serbia being exploited by other parts of Yugoslavia," etc.) and the traditional social-national legitimizing formulas of rule ("national unity," "foreign threats," "people's enemies,"etc.) (...)

Both in its Programme and in the election campaign, SPS presented itself as Serbia's saviour, a "modern left-oriented party." It emphasized its success in the establishment of a "united Serbia." It also tried to underscore that it was progressive and pointed out that the opposition represented the "dark powers" which would, if they won in the elections, bring Serbia a grey future.

By using the "ordinary people's" phraseology, Milosevic exploited the national sentiment and fear of social instability in order to show himself and his Party as the only warrants of national and social safety for the Serbs. During the election campaign, he emphasized that only SPS could ensure peace and economic prosperity, "full safety and security of the citizens, family and society," "equality in gaining wealth by one's decent work" and the "society in which there will be work and bread for everyone," "new jobs for the young," "certain and regular pensions which will ensure a decent living," "better position and social status of teachers," "rich and modern villages," "respect of culture, religion and tradition of the Serbian people." SPS's demagogue was particularly apparent in the slogan that SPS fought for "mothers who bore and raised children for joys and birthdays and not for wars and poverty!"

The basis of SPS's 1990 election strategy was to show itself as a force which would ensure peace and wealth for Serbia, contrary to the opposition whose victory might lead Serbia into war and poverty. However, SPS's victory in the 1990 elections marked the beginning of the war in Yugoslavia, of Serbia's economic deterioration and pauperization of the majority of citizens. (...)

Skidding into Anarchy

Slobodan Milosevic, in his speech at a republican coordination meeting on June 8, 1987, said "We are facing an offensive by the opposition, we ought to strike hard. The opposition has won the associations, now it is struggling for the press. We are skidding into anarchy..."

The League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) and later SPS tried to present itself as an "all people's party" which defends the interests of the Serbian people and Serbia and also as the "patron of interests of potential 'social losers' in the economic transition process." The aim of SKS leadership was to maintain the "unity of the Serbian leadership," that is, to prevent the forming of a liberal faction, to attract writers, artists, members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and others and yet not to have workers turn against them because of social problems.

Guards of Serbian National Interests

(...) The war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia - in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina - had been raging for a year and a half when the Serbian Socialists defined their attitude toward the Serbs living outside Serbia. "The Socialist Party of Serbia is convinced that principles of international law were violated when the Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, who had spent seven decades living united with their brothers, were denied the right to self-determination as to whether they would remain in the Yugoslav state. The Serbian Socialists will continue to support this right of theirs and will offer them moral and material help. (...) In the situation when the Serbian people is allegedly forced to fight for survival, it is necessary to bring all national forces together and to encourage all forms of solidarity and assistance to the mother-country from the Serbs in diaspora. The Serbs throughout the world are a force on which we can rely in the struggle for the spreading of the truth about the position of the Serbian people in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. and in our efforts for a peaceful and fair resolution of the Yugoslav crisis."

Against New World Order

In Serbia's political scene, SPS also launched a slogan on the "new world order" which, according to SPS ideologists, emerged after the break-down of the Soviet Union and the system of real socialism in Eastern Europe and after the unification of Germany, which enabled the domination of USA in the world and of Germany in Europe. This ideological fabrication was recorded also in the SPS Programme: "The new world order is of an extremely imperialistic character; its purpose is the domination of the West over the East and the South; unlike the imperialism of a totalitarian type established through invasion and occupation of territory, this one is of a liberal origin and is characterized by the implementation of economic interests (oil supplies, market, providing debts and control over debtor-countries) primarily through political means; however, the strongest arguments which have remained are the arguments of force. One of the first victims of the new world order is Yugoslavia."

Although SPS, according to the Programme, accepted parliamentarianism, market economy and observance of human rights (and human socio-economic rights: the rights to strike, free health care, old-age and invalidity pensions, social aid and free education), SPS did not abandon the "regulated market economy based on the equality of all forms of ownership." SPS advocates a "mixed economy" which, according to its ideologists, is an optimal solution to our problems. It "includes market economy, but also a certain degree of state regulation, transformed socially-owned property and also the possibility of its further transformation into private and state property." The Serbian Socialists, however, are "against unlimited reign of capital over people and against the transformation of economic power into political power." SPS sees the state as regulating the monetary and tax policies, political exchange with foreign countries, customs policy and environmental policy. Beside this, SPS maintains that the state should directly manage certain public companies.

By insisting, in its Programme, on the equality of all forms of ownership, SPS first mentions the socially-owned property which it defines as "... social capital." SPS sees the transformation of the socially-owned property in the direction of state or private ownership, but the order in which these forms of ownership are mentioned in the Programme is: state ownership, cooperative ownership and, only then, private ownership.

The attitude toward property and the concept of the policy of economic development clearly show the continuity of the communist reign. By insisting on the socially-owned and state-owned property SPS wants to keep control over the country's economic resources. The Economic policy concept contains some elements of the "five-year plan," such as industrialization as an aim of economic development, construction of major traffic facilities, and resembles the "key objects of capital construction" while the readiness to use cheap labour force resembles the communist policy of accumulation which as a result has a low standard of living. The aims of economic development are unrealistic and megalomaniac like in the communist "five-year plans."

In the next issue: War, Leader, Destruction