Day 89

Friday will be remembered for one of the most noisy, and joyous events celebrated in Belgrade during the Christmas holidays. Councils in other towns on the Gonzales list will also be formed in the next few days, while students have continued with their own protest as they still demand the resignation of their rector. Many of them are unhappy with the lex specialis solution from a moral point of view. No one knows how this student protest will end, but it is certain that it has marked this event called the "charm revolution".

The first tangible result of the three-month long protest in Serbia resembles the sight of clean laundry: the brighter face of Serbia has emerged, never to be subdued again. After making the couple in power look ridiculous, after discrediting and unveiling the true nature of this regime made of district attorneys, police chiefs and various ministers, after making all of them listen to the deafening roar of whistles, pots and pans, Serbian citizens wisely sent a message to themselves by buying scores of hats usually worn by court jesters: they sounded a warning to themselves that they must remain alert, shrewd and active, and that they must keep a distance.

Otherwise, their efforts could disappear overnight in an ocean of frauds and shady deals, just like that light paper ball disappears into the sleeves of the man switching the matchboxes.

The next demand is freeing the media. The authorities have been given March 9 as a deadline to do something. What they are doing now will result in nothing. The new information minister, Radmila Milentijevic, said she would propose amendments to the law on media and commended the professionalism of the state media, those waging war against a part of their own population, making up conspiracies, sucking up to the ruling couple and producing unseen hatred and paranoia in a country falling apart. New authorities being formed in city councils are not devoid of the usual inter-party rifts. Vuk Draskovic ended speculations about the composition of the new authorities by vetoing the proposal that his wife should run for a ranking post in the city council. This was a wise decision - after all the humiliations he suffered in his political career - the beatings he took and slanders thrown at him, the last thing he needs is an unpopular wife in power. Serbs don't like being ruled by couples.

The Zajedno coalition is back in the system's institutions much stronger than it was on November 4, when it was seemingly beaten by nationalist forces and the pro-regime left wing. It now has the profile of a pro-European democratic movement wanting to build European-modeled institutions. It is quite prepared for this task, judging by what its leaders and supporters are saying, and there is no doubt that it can count on the support of intellectuals. The end of demonstrations has coincided with activating various groups of intellectuals trying to define a new political platform.

A group of economists has submitted its proposal on future privatization, while amendments to the laws on University and press are being discussed. The tripartite coalition can say with a fair degree of certainty that it is much more coordinated and concerted than ever before, although it still has a number of issues to sort out. First and foremost, it still has a number of characters sharply opposed to "melting-pot politics", such as professor Ljuba Tadic. For some time to come, it will be torn apart by efforts to find a Serbian Havel capable of writing "The Demise of the Reds" drama, just like pacifist groups will have to keep looking for a "Serbian Brandt" worthy of kneeling in Srebrenica.

The coalition might find it convenient that the Kostunica-led Democratic Party of Serbia has drifted away, for the simple reason that Zajedno can now say that it has emancipated itself from ballroom nationalism, although it hasn't done much to prove it. The coalition could profit from a possible break-up of Kostunica's party, for the dissatisfied lot is most likely to join Djindjic's party. The coalition is perhaps happy that a few members of the Radical party have joined its ranks. It shouldn't be, because there are too many radicals who called themselves strategists in the war which just ended. However, old wine will probably keep pouring into new bottles.

The three leaders of the protest (Vuk Draskovic, Vesna Pesic and Zoran Djindjic) have personalized the protest, which is probably the biggest individual achievement for all three of them. It seems that only Djindjic has been given just political reward so far. Vuk Draskovic, on the other side, must be content with the positive course of events as that will give him time to calculate and assess his political ambitions as well as demonstrate the governing abilities of his party. The rifts between the two have never been secret. That makes their supporters nervous, on one side, but keeps the political mechanism transparent and subject to public control on the other.

Serbia is entering an era of complicated political developments, marked by a growing economic crisis, strikes and social discontent. All that might make events to follow more complicated than they were in other former socialist countries.