Three months

It took the SPS three months to arise from the state it was in after the election theft and three months of civilian protest; it has consolidated its lines, destabilized it's main opponents and started constructing a strategy of moving the center of power to the federal top. It has made several moves for that purpose, on the state and party level, with a big castling of its cadre.

Lex specialis

February 11, 97. At it's premature session, the Serbian Parliament has adopted a special law which announces as final the results of the second round of local elections, according to the findings of the OEBS.

The Reconstruction of the Serbian Government

February 11. At the proposal of the Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic, the Parliament has adopted changes in the government, dismissing seven old members and electing 13 new ones. Milutin Stojkovic was elected as one of the vice presidents; he was the president of Vojvodina's Parliament until recently. The vice president Slobodan Babic was dismissed, as well as ministers Dragan Kostic, Oskar Fodor, Mirjana Stankovic, Dragoslav Mladenovic, Nedeljko Sipovac and Radoje Djukic. Milan Beko was elected as the new minister for economic and ownership transformation. The new ministers are: Jovan Babovic for agriculture; Jovo Todorovic for education; Srboljub Stankovic for mining and energy; Zivota Cosic for industry; Zoran Modrinic for local self-management; Vladimir Ljubicic for tourism; Radmila Milentijevic for information; and Bratislava Morina for the family care. Ivan Sedlak was elected as the minister without portfolio, in charge of national minorities and human rights, Djura Lazic was elected as the minister without portfolio in charge of Kosovo, and Dejan Kovacevic was elected as the minister without portfolio in charge of capital infrastructure projects. There were speculations that those changes mean increasing influence of JUL on the republic's government.

Special Relations

February 28. An agreement about establishing special relations and cooperation between SR Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska (RS) was signed. At the occasion of the formal signing of the document, from the Yugoslav party were present: the president of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic, the president of SRY Zoran Lilic, the president of Montenegro Momir Bulatovic, the federal prime minister Radoje Kontic, the president of the Serbian government Mirko Marjanovic and the secretary general of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Gorica Gajevic. The delegation of RS consisted of the member of BIH's Presidency from RS Momcilo Krajisnik, the prime minister of RS Gojko Klickovic and the president of the Parliament of RS Dragan Kalinic. When asked by the journalists about the type of agreement, Milosevic , entering the car, said: "Read the Dayton Agreement!"

The Reconstruction of SPS

April 24. The Main Board of the Socialist Party of Serbia elected Mulorad Vucelic, Zivadin Jovanovic and Dusko Matkovic as vice presidents. The Belgrade media announced that Zeljko Simic, Tomislav Milenkovic, Zivota Zivkovic, Dragoljub Minja Milovanovic, Vojislav Zivkovic, Radovan Pankov, Ratomir Vico, Nikola Sainovic, Milutin Levic and Milomir Minic became new members of the Executive Board. Mulorad Vucelic, Nikola Stanic, Ljubo Peselj, Radovan Pankov, Dusan Cukic, Tomislav Milenkovic, Zeljko Simic, Dragoljub Minja Milovanovic, Ratomir Vico, Milutin Levic, Zivota Zivkovic and Slobodan Tomovic were elected as new members of the Main Board of the SPS. The reconstruction of the party included also the change of the greatest part of the local management.

The Disputes within the DPS

From February 28, the day when the Montenegrin prime minister Milo Djukanovic gave his interview to the Vreme weekly, disputes within the DPS were going on, in the beginning under the slogan of the "fight for Yugoslavia and its preservation". Belgrade initiates campaigns against Djukanovic, now and then.

The Presidential Tours

May 22. Milosevic visited the districts of Sumadija and Kolubara. He said to the workers at the mineral water plant Knjaz Milos in Arandjelovac: "This year, our country will achieve an economic growth-rate which will double the highest rate in Europe." This was Milosevic's first public address to the people after the counter rally from December 24, 1996.

June 25. During a visit to the Kosovo district, at a rally in Pristina, Milosevic said: "There are no such pressures that will make us give away an inch of our territory." Milosevic was decorated with the order "Milos Obilic", given to him by the Obilic Municipality Assembly.

The Election Headquarters

June 2. Ljubisa Ristic has announced that the coalition JUL-SPS-ND will be lead by the president of SPS and Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, at the forthcoming elections in Serbia. The election headquarters of the left block was formed, whose leaders are the president of SPS Milorad Vucelic, the SPS's secretary general Gorica Gajevic, the president of JUL Ljubisa Ristic, the president of the Directory of JUL Mira Markovic, the president of ND Dusan Mihajlovic and the ND's secretary general Tahir Hasanovic.

The Sale of the Postal Service

June 9. The contract for the sale of 49% of the Serbian Telekom to the Italian telecommunication company STET and the Greek state telecommunication monopoly OTE for the sum of 1.568 billion DM was signed. The contract was signed by the general manager of the holding company PTT Serbia, Aleksa Jokic, the general manager of the Italian STET/Telekom, Tomazo Tomazi, and the director of OTE, Petros Lambru.

The Candidate for the President of SRY

June 11. The Main Board of the Socialist Party of Serbia supported the nomination of Slobodan Milosevic for the president of SR Yugoslavia. The nomination was explained by the secretary general Gorica Gajevic: "In a decade which represents a turning point for our state, people and citizens, thanks to his realistic, responsible and wise policy, the state and constitutional unity of Serbia has been achieved, multi-party democracy has been established, peace has been preserved and the interests and rights of our people across the Drina have been defended." The campaign of reading the greeting telegrams was organized on the state television.

The Election Terms

In March, April, May and June, in response to the requests of the opposition that the government should fulfill its responsibilities from the Gonzales' report, the discussion in the Serbian government about the election units and the financing of the parties was organized, instead of the parliamentary panel. The SPO did not respond to the invitation, and the representative of DS withdrew from the discussion, because of the selection of the journalists that were allowed to be present. The discussions among the political parties on the RTS continue, with the systematic hampering of the dialog.

The Legal Initiatives

From June 30, the Serbian Parliament discusses the law about the local self-management, for which the DS has prepared the tactics of obstruction, supplying 1300 amendments; the law about the ownership transformation was announced, which has been the issue discussed over two months within the expert circles; the two proposals about the law of information were submitted, but the opposition rejected them as restrictive.