Opposition Model

Certain indications that the 'disintegrated democratic coalition' might cover the entire future political scene in Serbia, a half of which would remain in power at least in the next couple of years, while the other half would take over the role of the opposition, made the interest in SPS as the biggest opposition party almost entirely fade away. Besides, who would be still be interested in such opposition, the program of which still contains the opening of hospitals and schools, the promising new working places and a brighter future to the people, all that at the moment in which many citizens are about to lose their jobs.

Away from power and from serious ambitions to cope with important social issues in the time of the country's transition, anti-constructive and lonely opposition, without any ideological or 'natural' allies, reduced to the 'hostages' of the most famous Hague detainee - today, the Socialists can no longer call anybody's attention. Had it not been for the last week's change of tone in DOS's internal disputes, nobody would have noticed the exertions on the part of some within SPS to take over the role Slobodan Milosevic used to have as a leader of that party. This struggle has reached the phase when such attempts are no longer possible to conceal.

APPRENTICE VS MASTER: It has recently been published in a newspaper that the Municipal Board of SPS of Gornji Milanovac allegedly demanded the restructuring of the party leadership and the election of its new president, sending the following message: 'Slobodan Milosevic can no longer run the party from The Hague, via his representatives. What we need is a party president in the country, which means that a new congress is about to be held, at which we shall elect a new president.'

Not long afterwards, Dmitar Segrt, one of the nine members of the SPS Secretariat (a kind of collective leadership), left the leadership of SPS, declaring it incapable of managing and reforming the party. He also declared the members of the highest leadership, Zivadin Jovanovic and Zivorad Igic, as unqualified to conduct important reforms, since they are carriers of the obsolete Communism, and accused Zoran Andjelkovic Baki of an illegal shift of leadership and forming the body such as the Secretariat, which was a 'great and unheard of duplicity'. The SPS Secretariat immediately reacted and passed a notification, in which the 'hitherto' member of this body, Dmitar Segrt, apparently gave unverified and provisional disqualifications of other members of the party's leadership. The Secretariat's unanimous position in this case attempted to cover up the obvious truth about the factional tremors within SPS and the attitude, given by Segrt, that Jovanovic and Igic can run an association of citizens for the liberation of Slobodan Milosevic, but cannot run a party which claims to be the biggest opposition faction in the country.

Meanwhile, Zoran Andjelkovic Baki visited Gornji Milanovac, from which followed the news that the SPS leadership agreed with the most of what the local Socialists demanded, but that, unfortunately, it will not be applied in practice. The residents of Gornji Milanovac also insisted on the holding of a new party congress, on proclaiming Slobodan Milosevic an honoured president of SPS, but elect a new president 'within the country', as well as to have the 'creative members' returned (Mihajlo Markovic, Petar Skundric, Ratko Markovic, Aleksandar Bercek, Milos Macura...), which had been removed from the party's leadership thanks to the influence of Mirjana Markovic. After Andjelkovic's sojourn in Gornji Milanovac, it turned out that there would not be an extraordinary congress of SPS in the near future, and that Milosevic would not be proclaimed an 'honoured president', which immediately erased the idea of electing a new SPS president in the country. Such demands were only interpreted as demands for some personal advertising space. Officially, nobody from Gornji Milanovac required the replacement of the party president as long as he is imprisoned in The Hague, since it would be 'amoral and inhuman'.

THE OLD SCHOOL: The way in which the initiative from Gornji Milanovac happened to be buried belongs to the manners gathered from the old school of SK (the Communist Alliance). Conflicts, conceptual or those everyday ones, used to be barred at the lower level of party leadership, they were never allowed to penetrate to the top.

One of the party factions suspects, however, that something quite different is going on this time - that someone from the very top of the party leadership was in a 'deal' with certain individuals from the Municipal Board of Gornji Milanovac, trying to impose the idea of the congress and the election of the new SPS president. SPS Secretary General, Zoran Andjelkovic Baki immediately rejected such an initiative, which was also mentioned by Dmitar Segrt in his official resignation letter.

The last serious opinion polls showed that the Socialists dropped below 10% of the overall electoral support (more precisely, 7.3%) and that they are sticking more and more to their theory of maintaining the quality, not the quantity, of their party. As far as the quantity is concerned, SPS has never been smaller. Its 'quality' is determined by the fact that at least a few tens of its principal members are expecting to be summoned to court or police station for this or that. There are less and less people in SPS with certain social reputation - this party cannot at all rely on 'new blood', says sociologist Slobodan Antonic. Whoever initiated the ideas that came from Gornji Milanovac, must have been motivated by a widespread belief of many Socialists that SPS, the way it is now, has nothing to do in the subsequent elections, which are mentioned more and more often these days. Such SPS could easily live to see its destiny just like the once biggest opposition party - the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO).

FACTION DISPUTES: Among the factions within SPS, there is the most distinctive one, which goes no further than the motto 'Freedom for Sloba' and which would like to see its president returned from The Hague, to have DOS compromised and to eventually return to power. Zivadin Jovanovic and Zivorad Igic, the faithful custodians of the life and work of The Hague's main jailbird are leading that faction.

Contrary to them there is another faction, led by Branislav Ivkovic. According to many, he would be very pleased with the holding of another extraordinary party congress, at which he would probably be the most suitable candidate to become Milosevic's successor. After the fervent session of the SPS Central Committee last August, at which he survived Milosevic's attempts of extruding him from the party by the phone, Ivkovic's position among the Socialists (especially those from Serbia proper) was partly reinforced. At the same time, Ivkovic was deprived of his immunity as Member of Parliament and is facing the inquiry led against him for his alleged slip-ups during his term of office in the Government of Serbia. That can surely have negative consequences for his further career and plans.

The third SPS faction is not so easy to define in terms of its personnel. It is not being so transparent and it consists of those who have managed to grasp by now that Milosevic can no longer rule the party from The Hague and that Zivadin Jovanovic is mature enough to be sited in a museum of political antiquities, although nobody seems to be so fond of the aspirations of Bane Ivkovic, who is though to be very determined to take over the position of the party leader. This current is presently against the holding of the extraordinary party congress and supports a cautious and respectful dissociation from Slobodan Milosevic. Although he has never (publicly) showed an ambition to become a leader of one of SPS's factions, Ivica Dacic is frequently mentioned as one of the possible candidates for a 'little Sloba'.

It is quite hard to find a party within DOS that yearns so much for this assorted coalition to survive on the political scene. On the other hand, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) seems more interested in it.  The survival of DOS would mean the postponement of elections, whereas the Socialists hope for a disintegration of this broad coalition only in the case of some big and dirty affair that would probably regain them a major part of their lost electoral support. The Socialists would not like to see DSS (the Democratic Party of Serbia) as the opposition to DOS, since that might badly influence the steadiness of membership within SPS.

SPS commemorates the anniversary of its fall from power more in the manner of an opposition model, as a party, which has no more energy to rise against its own illusions. Just as someone starts thinking that it is high time to get rid of Milosevic's heritage and cult of personality, there comes the news from The Hague that he is still being addressed there as 'Mr. President', while other Serbian prisoners still enthusiastically greet him with 'Slobo, Slobo!'. Hence, there is not much for the Socialists to hope for, no more than an opposition model.