Old and without Ambition

The beginning of the "competition" was, of course, immediately accompanied by speculations on who would be the new president. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who has the main say in the whole issue, was least disturbed. Namely, he still doesn't have the name of the person who is to become the third Yugoslavia's new "master of ceremonies", at least according to sources very close to him. This, of course, does not mean that the Serbian President hasn't been making combinations these days and thinking about who would best suit him in the position which ex-Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic took so seriously. As we have learned, over the past few days Milosevic talked several times over the phone with academician Mihajlo Markovic, Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) main ideologue, offering him the post, but was turned down. Democratic Party (DS) leader Dragoljub Micunovic, considers that Markovic cannot accept Cosic's post because the two used to be good friends. Slobodan Inic, a sociologist, thinks that Milosevic needs Markovic in order for "the system to function symbolically", even though he is not very suitable for the role of an obedient operator. According to certain versions, an the post of federal president was also offered to Podgorica. The idea was to have a surprised Radulovic occupy the post, but when the proposal was assessed as "lacking seriousnesss", Milosevic's cabinet offered the post to both Momir Bulatovic and Svetozar Marovic. Micunovic views this story as "killing two birds with one stone". "On the one hand, just as Broz used to do, Milosevic would break up the too strong Montenegrin leadership by promoting a member of the trio (Bulatovic, Marovic, Djukanovic) to what is actually a weaker federal position and, on the other hand, he would get for Serbia the only post in the federal state that carries some power, the post of federal prime minister", said Micunovic. According to another story which fits here perfectly, a day after Cosic was overthrown, the Socialists and the Radicals agreed to overthrow Federal Prime Minister Radoje Kontic as well, and not just because he kept reating that the whole thing with Cosic was "improper". Some analysts believe that by dismissing Kontic, Milosevic would place the Montenegrin leadership before a fait accompli and could then persuade (force) them more easily into coming up with someone for the presidential post. He would then be able to say that in accordance with the constitution, the president and the prime minister came from different republics. Perhaps the Montenegrin leadership got scared by speculations or simply in order to anticipate events, but Podgorica was quick to come up with an answer. Zeljko Sturanovic, member of the secretariat of the main committee of the Democratic Party of Socialists (the ruling party in Montenegro), said: "We are not interested in securing a candidate for the vacant post of President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Long before Sturanovic's statement, the story over the new attempt to trick the Montenegrins was denied in Belgrade by Vojislav Seselj who knows a lot about the intentions of the Serbian president. "I am convinced that the candidate for the new Yugoslav president will come from Serbia. The Serbian Radical Party has no intention of disrupting this balance - the Yugoslav president comes from Serbia, and the Prime Minister from Montenegro", Seselj told "Vreme" last Wednesday. If Seselj's opinion is based on real, and therefore, accurate information, there is nothing left to do but to look for a new president among Serbian candidates. It is certain that the Radicals are not interested in filling up this post. Seselj described the next head of state as follows: "Old and without much ambition". "The only thing we need to know about the new president is that he has been chosen by HIM", said lawyer Milenko Radic adding: "In view of this, the new president must be - loyal. "It will have to be a person who will realize that his position does not give him the right to act like a leader - a person who knows who the boss is", said Inic, who bets on Vladislav Jovanovic, the Federal Foreign Minister. "He is a clerk, he works according to instructions, he is quiet, he does not provoke others too much, not even the opposition and the Montenegrins, the West sees him as Milosevic's messenger, he knows what he can and what he cannot do..." Inic doesn't rule out the possibility of Milosevic becoming Yugoslav president, "but not now, some time in the future, when he is able to make a unitary federation whose president will have the same constitutional powers he enjoys in Serbia now". The second serious candidate for the post, minister Jovanovic does not speak much about his possible appointment. However, his views on the matter have been noted. Asked: "Are we talking to a future minister or a future president?", he answered: "To a future pensioner." The only serious moment in this story is the fact that the Federal Assembly has already formed a commission which will accept the candidacies and issue statement from time to time. There is no information yet as to whether there are any candidates. One thing is certain - none of the serious candidates have been proposed yet.

Competencies

Under the present Constitution, the new President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can: "represent the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the country and abroad; proclaim federal laws by decree; issue documents on ratified international agreements; propose to the Federal Assembly a candidate for the post of prime minister after hearing the opinions of representatives of Federal Assembly groups; propose to the Federal Assembly candidates for judges of the Federal Constitutional court, judges of the Federal court, the Federal state prosecutor and the Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia, after hearing the opinions of the presidents of the member-republics; schedule elections for the Federal Assembly; appoint and recall by decree ambassadors of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the basis of the federal government's proposal; receive credentials and letters of recall for foreign diplomatic representatives; present decorations and recognitions of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia envisaged by the federal law; grant pardons for criminal offenses determined by the federal law; perform other duties determined by the constitution".