No Sadder Music, No Sadder Company

Momir Bulatovic, Acting President of Montenegro and presidential candidate in the October 5 elections, is basing his election platform on, among other things, the opinion that his adversary, Milo Djukanovic, is a separatist. At every available opportunity, the present Premier Djukanovic claims that Bulatovic is a unitarian, and what is worse, that he thinks that Yugoslavia is made up of only that which he (Bulatovic) and Slobodan Milosevic agree upon, that he unquestioningly serves "the conjugal couple from Belgrade’s Dedinje", and that Momir Bulatovic, Vojislav Seselj and Mira Markovic all dance to the same tune. ("There is no sadder music, and no sadder company", observed Djukanovic at an elections rally held in Pljevlje on September 19.)

The principal candidates for President of Montenegro and their political associates in the elections race are pledging their allegiance to Yugoslavia more often than all candidates in the Serbian elections put together. How much will the result of the presidential elections in Montenegro really influence the future of Yugoslavia, which, since its creation in 1992, has been looked upon mainly as the remains of a state ("former Yugoslavia")?

Let us consider, for instance, the possibility that Momir Bulatovic wins. Given that his style of cooperation with the present President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, has been seen many times, it is not very difficult to predict that with his re-election nothing would really change in Yugoslavia, and especially not for the better. Since having ridden the wave of Milosevic’s populism in the late 80's — along with other "beautiful, young and intelligent" people — only to penetrate the very political top of Montenegro, Bulatovic had, up to now, more or less voluntarily agreed with every destructive political move Slobodan Milosevic chose to make. This refers to the idea of the breakup of SFRY, to the instigation of war in Croatia and Bosnia, and to who knows how many military actions which today are the subject of investigation by the International Court in Hague of war crimes committed on the territories of former Yugoslavia (Bulatovic, as President of Montenegro, along with Milosevic, as President of Serbia, and also the President of FRY was member of the Head Defense Council).

Montenegro, headed by Momir Bulatovic, had forced the resignation of Milan Panic, the President of the Federal Government — who, incidentally, was put in that position by SPS, which later regretted its decision; Montenegro forced the resignation of the Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia, Dragoslav Avramovic, who had also been placed in that position by SPS; Montenegro turned the other way when its Federal Minister in the Federal Ministry of Domestic Affairs was being forced to resign... Of course, none of these things were done without Djukanovic’s input, but he was not the one to travel to Belgrade and to act the yes-man to Milosevic. These days, in the Premier’s election headquarters — in its official part, as well as in its more significant, unofficial part — there is frequent mention, for instance, that there is no evidence linking Djukanovic with support of the participation of the Territorial Defense Force of Montenegro in any military actions, especially not in the one against Dubrovnik. The actions of JNA ("former" Yugoslav National Army), that is to say, of VJ (the Yugoslav Army) were completely outside his jurisdiction as President of the Government of Montenegro at the time.

In the event that, with the aid of Milosevic, Milosevic’s wife and their establishment, Bulatovic were to win in the October 5 elections, he would have little reason to change his existing winning combination. Under such conditions, today’s Montenegro would be sufficiently egalitarian for him, today’s Yugoslavia would be sufficiently good for him, and if Montenegrins vote for him by a majority, the agony which marked life in FRY up to now would continue unabated.

Were Djukanovic to win, the situation would be considerably more complex. For his part, he keeps claiming that he is in favor of Yugoslavia, and that his victory would mean the beginning of stabilization in Yugoslavia — but that the question remains, what kind of Yugoslavia we will see? ("We can seek shelter for a day or two under any sort of makeshift tent, but we cannot continue to live our lives in just any sort of state", he said on September 20 at a pre-election rally in Kolasin.)

His opponents also know — they even say it openly behind the scenes — that Djukanovic, of course, is far from being a separatist. According to all indications, there is no danger to the breakup of Yugoslavia, or, at least, there is no such danger coming from Montenegro. However, Djukanovic poses danger for other reasons — and this is not a danger for Yugoslavia, but for Slobodan Milosevic’s unlimited, unhindered authority. The problem for Milosevic is that Djukanovic does not equate Milosevic with Yugoslavia. On the contrary, for Djukanovic, Milosevic is a necessary evil, while at the same time he sees Yugoslavia as a modern state that is open toward the rest of the world, one in which Montenegro truly plays an equal role — just as the Yugoslav Constitution claims it does — and in which the power of the President of FRY would be under strict control and kept within the bounds of the authority granted to him by the Federal Constitution. That in itself is cause enough for a man who cultivates the sort of ruling style which is so characteristic of President Milosevic to be slightly worried. However, there is something much more unpleasant for the present President of Yugoslavia, and that is the political character of Milo Djukanovic. To begin with, he is younger (born in 1962), stronger and more attractive than Milosevic; he is just as arrogant as the latter, although incomparably better mannered; he possesses a state strategy which Milosevic always lacked; he is a skillful politician, just like the President of Yugoslavia — which he demonstrated as Premier of Montenegro — and what is perhaps the most important thing, he is in possession of the same mechanisms of authority on which Milosevic depended for so long and so successfully. Ph.D. Mira Markovic must also have noticed all these things, judging by the invective directed at Djukanovic in her famous diaries (in which, admittedly, Djukanovic is never mentioned by name), because it could hardly be that beside the support of so many criminals in Serbia, she would be bothered by the fact that even those in Montenegro, who are also masters of ill-gotten wealth, stand fast by Milo — not to mention that he has many other supporters. If Milosevic could somehow find it in himself to "stomach" Djukanovic, it is certain that Milosevic’s wife never will.

At no time should we forget that Djukanovic came to power in Montenegro at the same time as Momir Bulatovic, and that until the rift in DPS, half a year ago, "Momo and Milo" was a virtual catch phrase, and that Milo knows everything that Momo knows, with the difference that he took off in a different political direction, together with Milica Djurisic-Pejanovic, Svetozar Marovic and the whole Government of Montenegro. However, it is significant that in this conflict Milosevic is not dealing with an outsider, a weakling, a pawn, a redneck — all of which are the most esteemed qualities in a political associate in Milosevic’s eyes — and least of all is he dealing with a man who will follow admiringly every move Milosevic makes, without asking too many questions. Djukanovic has already begun asking questions, questions which make Milosevic feel very uncomfortable. For the time being, Milosevic does not feel compelled to answer any of those questions. But what is going to happen if Milo Djukanovic, Milosevic’s (not Bulatovic’s) most serious rival, and the only true statesman in FRY, becomes President of Montenegro in about ten days?

Political analysts predict that the structure of the FRY Parliament could become the basis of new political conflicts in Yugoslavia. Should Djukanovic win in the presidential elections, Milosevic might not begin immediately working on deposing him, although it is conceivable that he might attempt sabotaging him in the same way that he sabotaged local opposition governments in Serbia. It is supposed that Milosevic will have a hard time accepting a victory by Djukanovic’s opposition in the premature parliamentary elections in Montenegro, precisely because that would mean a change of guard in the Federal Parliament. The President of Yugoslavia simply has no need of a less amicably disposed Federal Parliament in the guise of Montenegrin federal MP’s who, as Mr. Vukovic explained, could veto his decisions at any time. In any case, relations within Yugoslavia are a subject that yet remains to be discussed.