Trump-card From the Old Pack

The recent SPS main board session that made big changes in the top ranks of the ruling party just confirmed the old theory that SPS personnel are most like pool balls; they all sit around waiting on the table hoping the boss is going to remember them and play. Some get played into a post several times. The important thing is to be patient and realize that none of them has been sunk or missed for good and there's always an empty pocket.

Last week's decision by the SPS main board put three deputy party leaders on hold and replaced them with three new ones. Nikola Sainovic, Bosko Perosevic and Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic were frozen and Milorad Vucelic, Dusan Matkovic and Zivadin Jovanovic came into the game. The only persons to hold onto his deputy leader post is Zoran Lilic. People like Milomir Minic, Radovan Pankov and Zeljko Simic were returned to the SPS executive board.

Vucelic, Pankov and Minic fell from grace when Milosevic packed up his maps of the Serb lands outside the FRY and when he got bored with presenting his party as a collection of the best Serbs. Vucelic was one of the people who got where he was thanks to just that quality and he had to leave his posts as Serbian state TV (RTS) chief and SPS Serbian parliament group chief and go into private business.

At the same time, SPS General Secretary Minic was pushed onto the sidelines (some say he was the only party secretary who never gave an interview) and put in charge of the country's railways. Minic spent the time between the two rounds of local elections touring every village and factory in his native Valjevo area, making threats that life would grind to stop unless the SPS wins. He got a key post in the federal parliament and is now a member of the party executive board.

Zeljko Simic's fall was so long ago that many don't remember why he fell and others don't understand why he's being brought back. Before his return, Simic was allowed into Politika daily to write comments against potential presidential candidates.

Changes as big as these in the leadership of any party, especially a ruling party, usually give rise to speculation about some new party line but things are still somewhat unclear with the SPS. The only thing that is certain is that the Socialists are admitting they're facing a crisis that someone is responsible for. Earlier, they expelled Mile Ilic (Nis) and Nebojsa Covic (Belgrade). They dismissed Bosko Perosevic (Novi Sad) and Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic (Kragujevac) from their posts. Practically everyone was singled out as responsible for the election defeat. Sainovic's dismissal as deputy party chief was explained with the favorite SPS dismissal slogan: "de-accumulation of posts".

Officially, Gorica Gajevic kept her post as SPS general secretary although there were rumors that she would go with Sainovic. Unofficially, Gajevic is holding onto her post in name only while Vucelic is taking over as the top party operative. Vucelic is reported to have called for Gajevic's dismissal because he doesn't think much of her but he agreed to keep her symbolically in place.

Dusan Matkovic and Zivorad Jovanovic (the second ranked FRY diplomat) got to the party's top ranks as deputy leaders. Some cynical comments said Serbia's diplomacy and economy will benefit from what those two do but it seems that all the SPS is bringing in is one aggressive politician who is an unsuccessful businessman and a diplomat with few qualities as a speaker.

The de-accumulation of posts that covered many SPS officials who held up to 10 posts at once seems to have missed Dragan Tomic, who is still head of the important Belgrade SPS branch. Milosevic probably feels that the Belgrade board needs someone with Tomic's experience right now but the Belgrade Socialists are complaining and calling for a new man who would only hold that one job since that is the third-highest ranked post in the party and can't be held by someone who doesn't even have the time to do it properly.

In the end, the whole story about personnel renewal in the SPS boils down to Vucelic. The fact that he fell from grace as a hard-line nationalist does not mean his return marks a change in policy although the SPS has been insisting on the word patriotism recently. A VREME SPS source confirmed that saying he doesn't see any indication of new policies in the changes. "Once we knew clearly what was coming after personnel changes. We knew that every new political elite imposed its political line. This time we don't see that. Vucelic, Pankov and Minic were removed from top party posts not so long ago without explanation. They are now being brought back without explanation. Party members will accept that but I don't know how these people can. Minic was party general secretary and now he's being returned to the lower post of executive board member. All of it doesn't seem logical to me," the source said.

The changes in the SPS come before this year's elections which the Socialists can hardly win since they're losing initiative everywhere. Last December, with the protests underway, the SPS leaders concluded that the party might just have "reached the upper limit in terms of voter numbers" and decided to form "an acceptable and beneficial coalition which will secure a long-term ruling position". That wasn't mentioned in the statement from the latest SPS main board session but the statement did speak about a "patriotic alliance" of leftist, democratic and progressive forces which means there's work for Vucelic because he's seen as the man best suited to rally different people, ideas and parties.

The day after he was brought back, Vucelic demonstrated his usefulness at a reception, personally bringing Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic face to face with Slobodan Milosevic. That demonstrated that he has good relations with the Podgorica leadership at a time when a lot of things depend on the Montenegrins. Vucelic is also acceptable in the RS which is important for the patriotism line. He's also on good terms with many Serbian intellectuals who dislike Milosevic because he replaced patriotism with a story about the left. Vucelic is the ideal man to rally everyone who jumped off the SPS roller coaster after frequent policy changes. And that's not all he's useful for. He's probably the only SPS leader who has good relations with the opposition. That is an important quality now that the ruling party has to start a dialogue with the opposition and Vucelic is know for his negotiating abilities.

The forming of the "patriotic alliance" won't be any easy job. The SPS has little maneuvering space this time and few potential allies. Right now that means only New Democracy which, unlike JUL, refuses to be termed leftist. That's too few and the SPS must be counting on someone in the opposition.SPS spokesman Ivica Dacic said recently the Serbian Radical Party is not progressive, democratic or patriotic.

It will be interesting to see what Vucelic will get up to because he's obviously been brought in to achieve results not as window dressing.