General and Gentleman?

A few weeks ago, Slobodan Orlic, member of the Social Democratic party presidency and the federal minister of information, answered Luna Lu’s, the Glas Javnosti daily reporter’s question “is there any sex in DOS?” very precisely: “Too much”. There is justified doubt that he had already known then what and why he was saying, since on Monday he appeared as the leader of a group of fifteen members of the Social Democratic party presidency which publicly, at a press conference, demanded the resignation of the party president, general Dr. Vuk Obradovic, due to: “the most obscure sexual harassment of his female associates in the government, as well as members of the party”, for trying to back out of an agreement to withdraw in peace and “open threats… aimed at some members of the presidency and the women who were harassed”. The demand for his resignation was signed by 15 (of 21) members of the Social Democratic presidency on May 6. Meaning, a powerful team of members for any party, even for Social Democracy.

RUMORS AND THE AFFAIR: The news broke in the late afternoon on Sunday, May 5: it made its way through the grapevine then. According to some sources, that day some sort of informal coordination occurred between DOS and some newspaper editors in chief over a pub table; allegedly, someone from the press decisively complained about Vuk Obradovic’s conduct towards a certain female colleague and that served as a detonator of the scandal. Some witnesses say that the message went thus: either you deal with this, or we’ll make it public ourselves… Which drop brought the cup of patience of these fifteen members of the Social Democratic presidency to overflow – isn’t clear, but it is obvious that things have been simmering for quite some time. The term “drop” here isn’t only a metaphor: for the last two years remarks were made on Vuk Obradovic’s relation with alcohol, which could play a role in this story. Anyway, among some top DOS officials, Obradovic was at least once described as the “drunken general”. Well, now: neither is he the only official of the new government who is said to be of a joyous disposition, nor is he the only one whom rumor has it is inclined towards the female gender, whatsoever, that he also has “touchy” inclinations; but – for now – he is the only one whose charm has become public in this manner. Vuk Obradovic claims that it is all a bunch of lies, an inter-party putsch and subversive operation against him using well-known State Security methods, due to his activities in the battle against corruption in Serbia; that is an argument which one should keep in mind. He is surprised by the circumstance in which a “gesture of attention towards women” is interpreted in this way.

In his public statement, general Dr. Vuk Obradovic, “in one of the most difficult moments of his political career and life”, says – among other things – that there are “written statements filed with a lawyer” on that subject, on the basis of which his party comrades will demand his resignation from party and state functions. He says that he isn’t disposed towards speaking about women he was with, especially not about those he never was with; that “some people in the meantime have admitted that they have revoked their given statements and that they had made them under pressure”. He classifies the entire story as a “putsch” and reminds us that for a long time he has been and still is threatened, “even with physical assassination”.

Finally, general Dr. Vuk Obradovic threatens to file criminal charges, just like his party comrades from the Social Democratic party are threatening as well in their announcement. Some tattletale stories have already occurred: Meho Omerovic and Branko Gligoric say that they have already denounced general Obradovic to Dusan Mihajlovic due to threats of deportation, and general Obradovic that he has send a letter to Vojislav Kostunica in New York (visiting USA), complaining that Zoran Djindjic and Dusan Mihajlovic are behind this story, all in order to obstruct his battle against corruption and crime… Even the Karic family is a part of this story, brought in by a certain number of participants who have former connections with BK television, and as part of the theory in which the Karic brothers want to protect their interests by compromising Vuk Obradovic, since the BK Group allegedly owes a huge amount of money to the government. Bogoljub Karic energetically denied this story on Tuesday afternoon, admitting that he was one of the founding members of the Social Democratic party and nothing else; that he isn’t even a member of that party.  

On Tuesday the radicals had a field day in the parliament of Serbia; the affair was custom made for the radical taste. Toma Nikolic referred to the scandal in practically all of his regular remarks during the  discussion on the amendments: “… running around the government hallways with their pants down”; “filming x-rated movies in the government of Serbia” etc.

THE PARTICIPANTS: The entire affair is now heading – at least according to the announcements of the participants – towards some kind of judicial solution. And here we come to the heart of the matter. Namely, up to now, only Ljiljana Nestorovic, the Social Democratic spokeswoman, is exposed as a victim of Vuk Obradovic’s "sexual harassment”, who described the behavior of her boss as “aggressive assault of a lascivious nature with the intention of sexual intimacy”. Ljiljana Nestorovic says that such behavior of Vuk Obradovic was repeated; that she isn’t the only victim: “his female associates in the government, women who work in the party, and I also know that there are female reporters, in large numbers”. This information was confirmed for VREME by certain colleagues; some say that Vuk Obradovic “attempted to” attack them, sometimes with “physical contact”; they defended themselves as best as they could.   

Ljiljana Nestorovic says that she understands other women who decided not to come out in public and demand protection, but that she wishes to see this through in their name as well. Allegedly, she has an audio tape on the subject, which isn’t of much help, since it is inadmissible as evidence in court. It isn’t known whether she has any witnesses, nor whether anyone else will file charges against Vuk Obradovic – and with what evidence. Some DOS sources who wish to remain anonymous warn of a possibility that video tapes of certain scenes might exist as well, and that six-seven women are prepared to testify; they say that – according to their information – the affair has been going on for “quite a while”. Slobodan Lalovic, one of the fifteen members, also says that some presidency members “received warnings from state agencies”; it is now surfacing that these aren’t mere blunders but a pattern of behavior which has been going on for a long time. Parliamentary deputy Natasa Milojevic says for VREME that a number of women’s statements who Vuk Obradovic had harassed are filed with a lawyer and that the issue will end up in court. “Beside that”, she says, “all fifteen of us will have to raise charges, because we were verbally offended and called all sorts of names; we won’t let that pass.” Natasa Milojevic is extremely disappointed by the whole story: “The participation of women in the leadership of political parties should serve to encourage other women to join political life. This scandal can ruin all our thus far endeavors in that sense.”

Sexual harassment in our criminal law – unfortunately – is viewed as an attack on a person’s dignity or is even filed under public peace and order, if there are no physical injuries, in which case it would be attempted rape. This is an exceptionally delicate problem: there are rarely any witnesses; the victims of sexual harassment all too often prefer not to go public; the cultural and traditional context is such that it doesn’t support the protection of women’s dignity in such cases; to feel up someone’s backside or breasts fleetingly is deemed a normal manifestation of Balkan male virility. The problem is greatly impeded in cases when there is hierarchical subordination, i.e. boss and the subjugated woman. This phenomenon is well-known throughout the world from the beginning of time. Which is exactly why today in the civilized world it is believed that a man in a managerial position has to conduct himself a lot more considerately and carefully towards his female associates and other women he comes in contact with than other, average men. Even here in Serbia, it is believed that a minister or some such person should be like Caesar’s wife – beyond any reproach, in every respect, especially the moral one. In the hypocrisy of everyday life that norm is reduced to the famous slogan “if I score – I score” or “it’s my duty to ask…” or to touch, and we’ll see how it goes. On the streets or amongst equals on the social ladder of power, such problems are resolved easily and simply, with a slap and scream; in the hierarchy of power, however, the person with the higher position – regardless of gender – has obvious advantages. Statistically viewed, the majority of the perpetrators are men; on the other hand, in the cultural and anthropological sense, man is the one who is expected to have initiative in establishing sexual contact. Some non-governmental and women’s organizations in various countries have been working on projects for years such as “How to tell your boss no and to hold on to your job”, and are fairly successful. All of these elements of a social context in this story aren’t on Vuk Obradovic’s side, which doesn’t mean that he is responsible for all that his party comrades are now accusing him of; that still needs to be proven.

The session of the main board of the Social Democratic party, held on Tuesday, May 8, took place in a dramatic atmosphere: there were insults (“sluts”, “you scumbag”) and tears (Ljiljana Nestorovic and Jelena Milenkovic), mutual accusations amongst the factions and information leaks from the closed session. Politically viewed, the issue is simple: either Vuk Obradovic – or the fifteen members of the presidency. It seems as though Vuk Obradovic got the majority in the municipal Social Democratic boards: the municipal board of Savski Venac immediately expelled Rodoljub Sabic from the party; Miodrag Vukotic, president of the provincial board for Vojvodina, claims that the majority of municipal organizations were on Vuk Obradovic’s side; it seems as though the same scenario occurred in other parts of Serbia as well. Judging by the course of the session of the main Social Democratic board on Tuesday evening, Vuk Obradovic came out as the political winner in the faction battle. How that will reflect on the relations inside DOS is another question. Namely, the fifteen “Mensheviks” were given their deputy positions on DOS lists; the internal agreements of the coalition open up a possibility to replace deputies with the next people on the list – if a consensus on that is reached within DOS. Maybe the whole story will be concluded with the  foundation of another party on the starry political sky of Serbia, since those fifteen members were expelled from the party on Tuesday evening, and instead of Slobodan Orlic as deputy president of the Social Democratic party, Zoran Popovic was elected. A decision was also made on disbanding city Social Democratic boards in Belgrade and Novi Sad, as well as to form a new party presidency.  

The fifteen expelled members, however, aren’t giving up: they claim that the main board was illegally called, that people who aren’t members were present, that the atmosphere was undemocratic and pogrom-like. As a two-thirds majority of the presidency members, these fifteen members expelled Vuk Obradovic from the party and announced that they will demand his replacement as deputy prime minister of the government. Natasa Milojevic says that “people make a party, not cabinets and tables”. “We think we are the Social Democratic party. Now it is up to DOS to decide whether we will retain our mandates, and we will respect DOS’s decision. And authorized agencies will deal with this affair.” Vuk Obradovic has filed charges against them. Even the government of Serbia reacted, since Zoran Djindjic and Dusan Mihajlovic were offended by Vuk Obradovic’s accusation that they are behind this affair. While these lines are being written, the cabinet should be in session on this subject. The outcome of that meeting is anything but certain and it could easily occur that Vuk Obradovic’s victory in the faction battle was in actual fact a Pyrrhic victory.    

If it does turn out that convincing evidence and witnesses in this case against Vuk Obradovic are found, the political victory at the main board could turn out to be useless, even if he is capable of proving that it is a combination of the abuse of his misdeeds and an intention to remove him from a delicate position in the government. It wouldn’t be hygienic for any political party in Serbia to have a chief who is compromised on such a banal subject as feeling up someone’s backside and tearing up women’s shirts to whom otherwise he isn’t overly charming even without it. It is even less suitable for a government to have such a deputy prime minister. At the end of the day, even in the Balkans, courting is a skill which one learns as teenager, when it is time for it. That skill excludes a violent approach, on the general normative and on the subcultural level as well. That simply isn’t done.