Fear and Shouting

The opposition did not take the insulting speech by the Yugoslav President and Chief of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Slbodan Milosevci, delivered at the Fourth Congress of this party, lying down.  The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) stated that this is a call for a "Serb- against-Serb war," that the Chief of this state "is not hiding his hatred and readiness for evil and is completely unacceptably insulting and slandering the democratic opposition and its supporters who make up the majority of the citizens of the country in which he is the chief of state..."

The Civil Alliance of Serbia (GSS) assessed that the SPS Congress demonstrated that there are two different world in our country - one is a world of luxury automobiles, bodyguards, looting money from the people, and in the other there is poverty and strife..."

The Social Democratic Union (SDU) assessed that there will be no election but there will be repression.  The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodian (LSV) stated that the Congress "clearly and loudly announces a violent showdown with everyone who thinks differently."  President of the Coalition Vojvodina, Dragan Veselinov, warned that Milosevic had lost all battles he waged against other peoples and should know he stands to lose most dramatically from his own people.

The Movement for a Democratic Serbia (PDS) announced "They (SPS) are not lying.  They are simply no longer able to distinguish between lies and the truth.  They are on the road of no return and are taking the country and the people with them.  We must stop them in this."

The general conference of the Democratic Alternative (DA) demanded on February 20, 2000, that all state institutions "be freed from party dictates," "and for pogroms, threats and persecution of political opponents to stop..."

"CULTURE OF LIBERATION": Jovo Bakic, a political sociologist from Belgrade's Faculty of Philosophy, noted on February 20 at the Press Club that the Satanization of the opposition is based on old models which he identifies as the phenomenon of "political culture of liberation": "in such a culture you have a polarization of the political space into 'patriots' and 'traitors'.  Unfortunately recent Serbian history seems stuck in these categories.  At the end of the nineteenth century progressivists accused the radicals of 'serving Russian interests', while the radicals accused the progressivists of 'being on an Austrian payroll.'  After this, when the radicals came to power 'Serbia is liberated from the Austrian occupation' (through the extended arm of the progressivists), progressivist meetings are broken up, there are physical showdowns.  After World War I there were constant accusations either based on ethnicity or that the Croats are traitors of Yugoslavia (meaning the nation as a whole), or that Stjepan Radic is a traitor (he is arrested and imprisoned at one point).  As an act by a 'political culture of liberation' Punisa Racic shoots him, with 'liberation' being taken into the parliament.  After World War II you have accusations leveled against the bourgeoisie, against Chetniks for being 'traitors', 'collaborator', their persecutions and imprisonment...

Members of the Informbureau were dubbed 'Stalin's agents,' 'traitors'...

Finally you have the government held by the Socialist Party of Serbia, JUL and the Serbian Radical Party, where they reserve the right to being the only real interpreters of Serbian national interests - there is no room for anyone else.  They are the ones who determine who is a patriot and a who is a traitor.

In this sense, all ideological differences, all economic, social problems are driven into the background because there is no sense of explaining an economic program to someone that is a traitor.  He needs to be imprisoned and sentenced to death.  In this sense Slobodan Milosevic and his government are merely the latest version of the 'political culture of liberation,' although admittedly a fairly malignant version of this culture," Bakic observes.  Looking at what is happening he fears that considerable bloodshed could take place here...

POSTPONING: Vice-President of the Democratic Party (DS), Slobodan Vuksnovic assessed that the Fourth Socialists Congress "would not be interesting if it were not part of the regime's campaign which has been organized to postpone (Milosevic's) inevitable departure."

Vice-President of New Democracy (ND), Svetozar Krstic, does not expect that the government will undertake drastic measures like forbidding political parties or martial law because the key forces which would be in charge of implementing such measures do not have enough consensus among themselves for the government to be able to go ahead with such measures.  That is to say, the Yugoslav Army is not that which is Generals Dragoljub Ojdanic and Nebojsa Pavkovic stand for.  Krstic believes that the best response is unified action by opposition parties.  President of the Democratic Center and Co- President of the Coalition DAN, Dragoljub Micunovic, also believes that the Socialists Congress "clearly showed that there will not be any early elections," so that now the opposition must define its reaction in keeping with this, and must define its strategy with which it will show Milosevic that it is alive and is ready to defend itself.

One of the offers made before the meeting of the opposition which will in all likelihood be held at the beginning of March was thrown outright by the regime: Dragoslav Avramovic porposed that Milosevic be offered to hand over power peacefully, in return for which he will not be handed over to the Hague Tribunal.  Avramovic proposed this on the basis of the fact that it is impossible to get a billion German marks from abroad which are necessary for stabilizing the economic situation in FR Yugoslavia before there is a change of government.  According to Avramovic, if the opposition reaches agreement on this, consultations with representatives of the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, China and Russa will begin.  Pasic's Radicals did something similar in the last century when they used money from the Russian Czar to buy off the crown of King Milan.  Micunovic concludes that judging by the congress, Slobodan Milosevic is not entertaining any thoughts of an agreement with the opposition.

The opposition concludes that the Socialists are not capable of reforms and are therefore spreading hatred at their congress, all under the guise of "renewal, development, reform."  There is a joke that supporters of the government know what a directive is - "whether to strangle or whether to paint..."  (This is an association to the words uttered by the Vice-President of SPS: "Comrade Mira, if anyone were to ask me, I would strangle this opposition!" - Mirko Marjanovic tells Mirjana Markovic, quoted from the book "End of the Serbian Fairytale" by Slavoljub Djukic.)

VISION: Dragan Lakicevic from the Institute for European Studies observes that the opposition is "simply being made illegal" with the revival of an old political vision - for this to be the center of all countries which are being threatened by the new world order.  In order for this vision to be realized, a continuity in governing, uninterrupted by any opposition, is required.  "What will be the response by the opposition, I don't know.  But I fear that this is an attempt at reviving a politics which, it seems to me, had its roots in Ever Hoxa's Albania," Lakicevic concludes, stating that a Congress like this can no longer be seen even in China.

It does not appear that the opposition is feeling scared by the noise made by the ruling parties, but rather recognizes the anxiety of authority in this.  Opposition leaders keep repeating that the development of events depends most on constant effort and work by the opposition.  Immediately after the Congress, as a measure of prevention, SPO promoted the defense of cities at its Municipal Council meeting in Belgrade.

Presidential elections with two candidates in the Democratic Party appear to be mobilizing this party.  On top of this, Djindjic announced in an interview for Studio B that the opposition will quickly organize the training o 30,000 election controllers.

In the Spring of 1996 when the last SPS congress took place, there was talk that "a meeting of the European Serbia needs to be organized counter to the Chinese Serbia."  Something more than a meeting is needed.

Political scientist Dijana Vukomanovic from the Institute for Political Studies emphasizes the fact that 50 percent of new SPS officials have been elected on the municipal level, that the entire political scene is being centralized around Belgrade, while political life is not only unfolding in the capital, with this being a fact that the opposition must also understand.

One of the solutions the opposition has at its disposal is to remember Pasic's best speech, delivered on July 28, 1882, al Ilija's Waters in Kragujevac: "That is why, brothers, we are organizing in every village, in every community, and that is why we are sure to win!"