Milorad Vucelic

Date and place of birth: June 17, 1948, the village of Sivac near Crvenka Vojvodina.

Education: Graduated high school in Vrbas with Radoman Bozovic, Marko Kekovic and Miodrag Karadzic. Graduated from Belgrade University law school.

Sentenced: For damaging the reputation of the president of the Socialist Federal republic of Yugoslavia to a two year suspended sentence in 1972 and for passing bad checks in 1985.

Character traits: Charming when he wants to be, rough and arrogant when he needs to.

Political beliefs: Swam through the entire political spectrum from anarchist to ultranationalist and back several times. Became a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1967, was a party activist and dissident at the same time frequently defending and attacking the same people and ide as at the same time. As an activist of the 1968 student movement, he fiercely attacked the regime and a few years later as editor of Student and Vidici magazines he fiercely attacked and then defended the regime. While he was editor in chief of Knjizevne Novine magazine, Vucelic demanded the arrest of Gojko Djogo in one issue and demanded his release in another and a medal for Djogo in a third. During the 1980s he became close to Dobrica Cosic and nationally-conscious intellectuals in the Serbian Writers' Association. Some 10 years later he actively participated in Cosic's political liquidation claiming that he was "more consistently adhering to Cosic's national thought than Cosic himself".

How did he become a nationalist? "I recall when I was 22, I met Mihiz. I was a leftist and pro-Yugoslav and he asked me how old I was. I said 22 and Mihiz said, "there's still time Vucelic, all smart Serbs are nationalists at the age of 40." His generation realized that earlier." (Danas magazine, August 30, 1991).

What about after the age of 40? "I was a new leftists, and I remained a leftist. I was always opposed to repression, always opposed to what is called the militant left, against chauvinism", (Tiker news agency, 1994).

Career in the SPS: As director general of TV Novi Sad from January 1991 to April 1992 he organized an unprecedented warmongering campaign and pushed forward figures such as Milijana Baletic, Mila Stula and Stefan Grubac. When the war in Bosnia broke out he became general director of the Serbian state TV and head of the SPS parliamentary group in the Serbian parliament. He approved the airing of report in which the father of a young man who was killed in combat praises the Serbian president on the last day of the pre-election silence.

What is he remembered for in RTS: For his ruthless spending of funds and resources to promote folk singers, especially his mistress Vesna Zmijanac.

What is he remembered for in parliament: For his verbal duel with SRS parliament group chief Tomislav Nikolic. Vucelic attacked the SRS as Chetniks and Nikolic attacked Vucelic as a "stammering screwer of bar room singers."

When did he fall from grace? In September 1995 as the victim of the new, peaceful course adopted by Slobodan Milosevic. He was ousted without explanation along with Mihailo Markovic and Radovan Pankov. His fall coincides with the rise of the Yugoslav United Left (JUL) and increasingly open interference by Mira Markovic in SPS personnel policies.

What did he do then: He temporarily withdrew from politics and went into publishing (Bregovic's Moonlight, the unofficial anthem of Belgrade's winter protest was published by Vucelic's Komuna company). Komuna also has recording contracts with other best-selling Yugoslav musicians and groups. Komuna also publishes comic strips including Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese.

Why is he back now: Because Milosevic finally realized that the SPS with JUL and without Vucelic-type patriots is "just a big body without a head but with a parasite on top".

Will he be the next Serbian president? Because of his biography and his personal friendship with known criminals and underworld figures, he could hardly pass as the SPS presidential candidate. But his wide range of acquaintances and friends, including some opposition leaders, make him the only man who could restore political breadth to the shaken SPS.