The Dangerous Plebiscite

On November 10 the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are to decide whether they will remain in the common state with the ones who already decided to live in what will be left of Yugoslavia. The Moslems are to come out for the autonomy of Sandzak (South- Western part of Serbia) on October 25, 26 and 27. From the standpoint of the ruling government in Serbia, the first two phenomena are politically desirable, legal and absolutely patriotic. The third one is absolutely inadmissible, so "the Serbian Government will oppose these tendencies with all legal and constitutional means". It is possible that this decision of the Serbian Government is based on experience. If we go a few political centuries back, that is to the summer of 1990, we shall recall that on the voter's ballot during the referendum in Croatia it said: "For the Serbian autonomy". Of course, there were two options - "for" and "against". According to euphoric newspaper reports, there was only one vote "against". Dr. Milan Babic, the President of Krajina Autonomous Region, explained that that vote was not actually for the simple autonomy, "but for the constitution of an independent Serbian state of Krajina instead". Serbian National Council thus officially proclaimed that "the Serbian people voted for its sovereignty and autonomy to the last man, that is for the territorial autonomy in the regions where it represents the ethnic majority, and for the cultural autonomy in the regions where it does not represent the ethnic majority". The political ground for adopting the autonomy (centuries old national aspiration) has been prepared for months and has not been explained before the referendum. What was there to be explained to the ustashi, anyway? On the eve of the referendum, the Moslems in Sandzak called the Serbian authorities "fascists" and explained that "no one can stop the Moslems from fulfilling their historical ambitions". "Serbs are once again in the situation to defend their state by force. They will hold on until the units form Serbia come to their rescue", said Dusan Zelenbaba, former Vice- President of SDS (Serbian Democratic Party) at one of the meetings in August last year. "If Serbia continues implementing its anti-Albanian and anti-Moslem policy, a common Croatian-Moslem front will be opened soon", said Sulejman Ugljanin, the President of SDA (the Moslem Party of Democratic Action) from Novi Pazar (capital of the Sandzak region) at the end of July last year. It is absolutely clear that the authorities in Serbia know only too well what can be the consequences of the referendums, plebiscites and other ways of expressing people's will when it comes to autonomy. They also know very well that all the spleen the authorities in Croatia have vent on the referendum of the Serbs did not sway them at all. On the contrary. The anger and the threats of the Croatian leadership and the Parliament served as a perfect proof that the life "with them" (with the Croatians) is plain impossible. However, they are giving to the Moslems the very same excuse the Croatian authorities gave to the Serbs. "The referendum in Croatia has no legal backing and is of no political consequence to the Republic of Croatia." (Mr. Tudjman, President of Croatia, in a interview for the Swedish radio, August 23 1990) "The referendum in Sandzak is illegal, illegitimate and futile." (Serbian Parliament, October 23 1991) "The Presidency calls all the political parties, especially the ones from the mixed population regions, to cooperate in the achievement of the common interests, the peaceful coexistence, the economic and general development." (Session of the Croatian Presidency, August 8 1990) "The Government of the Republic of Serbia appeals to the Moslems to circumvent the manipulation of its religious and national feelings solely aimed at the disintegration of the Republic of Serbia and to condemn the attempt to disturb the inter-national relations" (Statement of the Serbian Government, October 21 1991) "The referendum for political autonomy of Sandzak is not aimed at improving the quality of life for Moslems, but at taking away a part of territory and opening the Southern front seconded by Franjo Tudjman, Stipe Mesic /the President of the Federal Presidency from Croatia/ and Ibrahim Rugova/the leader of the democratic movement in Kosovo/("Ekspres",October 21 1991) "The Moslems should not allow to be taken in by Ugljanin's sick fantasies, whose sole aim is the creation of the 'green belt' /area of Moslem influence/ following the orders of Albania, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Pristina." (Vasilije Dedeic, the citizen of Bijelo Polje /Montenegro/, October 21 1991) "The entire scenario was thought up in Belgrade and is being devised by Milosevic, with a zealous help of the Serbian Orthodox Church." (Josip Boljkovac, Croatian Ministry of Interior, on the Government session, August 18 1990) Even the threats somehow sound familiar. "If necessary", said the Zagreb HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) President in July last year, "after having used all the legal means, we shall know how to confront the extremist chetnic emissaries and some of the representatives of SDS". According to dr. Budimir Kosutic, the Vice-President of the Serbian Government, who in compliance with his political allegiances and title went to Sandzak to appease the spirits, the referendum of the Moslems is a "biased political act devised by a group of SDA extremists". He also promised that the "constitution of any state within the borders of Serbia will be prevented by all legal and other means". More precisely, "it was ordered to the department ministries to explore the legal justification for the existence of SDS" (Croatian Government session, August 19 1990). On October 23 the Serbian Parliament concluded that it was necessary to explore the legality of SDA's existence, to take the necessary steps to have the party and its polling stations banned. The Serbian Democratic Party in Croatia is making significant progress. The fate of the Party of the Democratic Action remains yet to be seen. Since the organizers of the referendum in Sandzak dared to ask why it is that the two Serbian Krajina in Croatia are allowed everything and they are allowed nothing - they received a courteous answer from the Serbian Parliament that "they should not compare themselves to the Serbs in Croatia", i.e. "that they should not even think, let alone dare to take steps concerning the creation of the Moslem state". Indeed, the political intentions of SDS in Croatia should be carefully outlined. Dr. Jovan Raskovic, the former President of the Party, said in an interview to "Borba" on July 18 last year: "We are by no means tearing Croatia apart, we are forming no province in the sense of the two autonomous regions that existed in Serbia (Kosovo and Vojvodina). We don't want to have a Serbian state in Croatia ... We don't agree with Seselj's ideas (President of the Serbian Radical Party), since we cannot look for a way out by resorting to outdated means. On the other hand, we are reproaching the present Croatian authorities for the outmoded claims for the national and ethnic sovereignty". And what has happened to dr. Raskovic? (He was pushed aside by his fellow Party men because of his moderate political views) Recently there was a closed session of the SDS and SDA functionaries and MP's in Sarajevo. It was concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina is "the old Serbian state", but that it is "populated by other peoples" who tend to "squeeze out the Serbs and jeopardize their lives". This is why Mr.Radovan Karadzic, the SDS President of Bosnia, "offered the possibility of the Serbs to express their will at the plebiscite", which, as we said, will take place on November 10. Without bothering with whether the Moslems from Sandzak will be better off with their autonomy, which is entirely up to them to decide, it is indicative that the official Serbia is attacking the Moslems while defending the case of the Serbs both in Croatia and Bosnia.