Horrendous Message

All previous, similar rallies and protests now only seem like unsuccessful rehearsals. There was always something that was slightly wrong: the moment, tone, reasons, goals, words, people... Now we know what it looks like when by some miracle all falls exactly into place, when people know that they are right, that they are in the majority, that they can, that they dare to, that they are free, and therefore head for the demonstrations easily and peacefully, as though it truly is merely a most harmless afternoon promenade.

I don't believe anyone could have planned and predicted something like this. The city which seemed to have been hopelessly fading and sinking, as though history had cheated on it and abandoned it, all of a sudden came to life. Every day at the same time the well-known streets and squares are transformed into a scene of unbelievable celebrations and the city becomes the world capital. People walk about as though in a trance, intoxicated with each other, mutually seduced and mesmerized, and in all sorts of crazy and most fantastic ways show that they are alive, that they exist, right here, at this moment and they come back to convince themselves that it wasn't a dream.

It must be that the angels themselves were involved in the electoral theft, since if it wasn't for that we would now be watching the boring haggling of the government and the opposition, with only a slightly induced hope that, little by little, one day, something shall somewhere somehow change for the better. That theft has helped the people to finally clearly comprehend the message which the regime has been sending out to them for a long time and has not ceased to do still, which goes as follows: YOU DON'T EXIST. Your will means nothing, your lives serve no purpose whatsoever, they do not fit in with our plans: you are an unnecessary expense which we will maximally cut down. What you know, see, wish for and think is incompatible with the editorial policy of our television and press. Therefore, we don't see you.

That is the horrendous message which has driven the people onto the streets of Belgrade, Nis, Kraljevo and other cities, and directly due to it they infallibly connect the electoral theft with television and the press. That media, in charge of manufacturing valuable news for the regime and of eliminating all unfavourable and unnecessary ones, due to the nature of that very regime, have reached an absolutely unbearable measure of discrepancy with reality. This time, unlike the war and then peace propaganda, people personally know what is going on, who's doing and saying what, since they are taking part in it themselves.

For at least two weeks the greatest part of the local media were utterly deaf and blind to the occurrences which were going on under their windows and which was prime time world media news. Tens of thousands of people persistently whistled, hollered, blew their trumpets, rang their bells, chanted and employed all their efforts just to prove that they did exist, that they have their own legs, arms, heads, stomachs, throats and voices, even though none of that is apparent on television. And that message could not have been more clearly sent by any means other than eggs, which stand as a symbol of life.

Television then made certain concessions and admitted that they do exist, yet are unimportant and definitely harmful. The short news reports of smaller and smaller, but still destructive and murderous, protests are now obligatorily accompanied by an idiotically thought up interview with a certain farmer who, in the midst of his field, in a worried tone repeats to the camera what he had heard from that very television station the previous day.

However, the very tyrant has not made even such a concession. He supposedly no longer trusts even those and such media which belong to him. Not only has he decided not to recognize that Belgrade exists, but rather appears to announce the very opposite. He says that at this very moment he is occupied with the construction of a network of highways, he, the great constructor, and as to the cities in Serbia, he has heard nothing as yet. Cities, as is a well-known fact, haven't overly impressed him in the past either.

Therefore, here we have to deal with a regime which is persistently nurturing the Kremlin style and tradition from it's most famous days. Due to that, some of the Western journalists, which I very frequently meet with these days, are rather driving me crazy with questions like what is the alternative here? what shall become of Dayton if Milosevic leaves? isn't there too much nationalism amongst the opposition? is the coalition harmonious enough and could they really be capable of leading a country?

Since I have patiently answered such questions, I hereby take the chance to pose a few skillful questions myself. Has anyone ever thought of what the alternative would be for comrade Brezhnev? Were the Russians obliged to keep quiet and wait for a better alternative to a regime which never predicts nor allows an alternative? Is only the tyranny in Serbia a truly reliable guarantee of stability and the implementation of the Dayton agreement? Is Milosevic truly that perfect so that any possible successor first needs to be screened and checked in detail?

Somehow connected to this question is a certain misunderstanding concerning the true nature and motives of the current demonstrations, which partially stand as support for the coalition Zajedno, and partially merely for the democratic principles and freedom of the press. Neither certain Western monitors nor a part of the very demonstrators comprehend that such a difference is mainly fictitious.

Namely, in the state of Serbia parties emerged before a true multi-party system came to be, and which we still lack. Neither the media, nor the elections, nor the parliaments have been constituted to seriously accept political pluralism, and the present crisis has emerged due to the very fact that for the first time a possibility cropped up for the opposition to take over at least part of the local government. Which is why word here is of a battle for the principle of a government's possible oust from power, and at this moment the coalition Zajedno is merely the strongest bearer of that battle. Which is why neither internal differences nor any specific programs of the opposition are of importance here. Who can speak of a match and of who's better than whom before one party gets the right to enter the field?

Now that the tyrant has refused all that could be refused, it becomes more apparent what is at stake in this battle. Actually, he is offering less than nothing. He doesn't only say: I have stolen off you and there's nothing you can do to me, but is now preparing to quench all resistance even if the price turns out to be a new conflict with the entire world. He does not wish to come out of this scuffle weakened, only to lose the first following elections, but rather is drawing a lesson that he must never again allow himself to be in such a situation.

Radio B 92 has been let off the hook this time thanks to the momentary and overly strong world reaction, but if the tyrant gets some breathing space, he shall definitely dedicate his efforts to strengthening internal discipline. Not only will the media lies fail to diminish, but rather we shall discover that there can be more of them and that they can be worse than before, while we shall only be able to read old issues of the independent press. In such a perspective, we would remember this year's elections as the most just and free ones. Luckily, such an outcome is hardly the most likely one. Neither Milosevic nor the outer world have had time to reflect and comprehend all the consequences which a clear tyranny in Serbia could bring to their mutual relations. Yet, at first glance, it is apparent that he definitely has to lose some importance which was pinned on him as a factor of stability.

Namely, he shall not have a single reason to be cooperative if the West criticizes him strongly and refuses to slightly help him along. The West itself shall not be able to help him, and since he refuses to be obedient free of charge, he shall be treated as an uncooperative tyrant. Although certain examples exist of such tyrants who have managed to endure such a status for a long time, I somehow believe that this one won't have such luck. That would be his second complete turning point and it would be a real miracle if all his men were to follow him in that direction.

Due to all this, these walking protests must continue and gain in strength until the tyrant admits that we do exist and until it becomes clear to everyone that he does not rule in this country. For both him and for us this has evolved into an unrelenting all or nothing battle. Possibilities of a concession or squaring up are no longer visible. He didn't even leave the possibility of extensions or postponements. He isn't even looking to gain in time, he wants all and now. From now on either he or we will exist. He will somehow have to lose this horrendous game of mutual disavowal.