Party Membership Card Recommendation for Office

Leaders of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) from Kragujevac which has won a comfortable majority in the city assembly, after constituting of the city parliament, are engaged in cadre combinations abundantly using the benefits of conquered power.

AIM Belgrade, November 17, 2000

The first personnel solutions for the posts in city assembly show that the newly elected councilmen have decided to recruit the cadre for the posts in the administration from the ranks of "their own" parties. Nobody is even mentioning the pre-election promises that in seeking personnel solutions their sole criterion would be expertise. A real surprise was in this sense the address of the president of the group of councilmen of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Miroslav Klacar to the city assembly who thanked the candidate for city prime minister for having included two members of the Socialist Party and assessed it as "normal" when according to his words one has in mind that DOS won 38,602 votes in Kragujevac, while Socialist Party of Serbia won 37,446 votes: "The results of the elections show clearly that it is necessary to have representatives of our party in the city government", said Klacar giving the names of two members of city government with all the data on their activities in membership of SPS. All the candidates for city government were presented as members of DOS.

Klacar's allegations were not denied by either the mandatary or any member of DOS, or members of city government present at the constitutive session. It remained unclarified whether this was a mistake or the newly received members of DOS have not succeeded to change their party membership cards in time, since during the pre-election and especially the post-election activities the public in Kragujevac spoke about parallel membership of some of the candidates of DOS in the opposition and in SPS.

One of the heads of the new city administration later declared to journalists that the data presented at the session of the city assembly were not correct, but that the local organisation of DOS did not wish to deny them because it was “not worth the trouble". To the complaint that there was nothing wrong in having the Socialists in the city assembly in view of the number of the seats they had won, a representative of Kragujevac DOS said that it was the choice of the winning coalition in Kragujevac that the cadre be selected from within the ranks of DOS "because there is a sufficient number of them and it would be nonsense to appoint to posts which bear great responsibility persons who are not from the winning coalition". That is how party membership card proved to be the only valid certificate of expertise, and two party membership cards confirm this expertise and made it unquestionable.

At the very beginning of their “rule”, as members of Kragujevac DOS like to say, it looks as if this, second in a row, opposition city administration will make the same mistake as the previos one, disregarding the fact that the citizens of Kragujevac have declared themselves in favour of changes and against the former regime, and not in favour of individuals who immediately after having won the majority in the elections tend to think that they are heaven-sent to carry out the “people's will”.

Excesses and even comic situations with the “newly proclaimed experts” who have tried to take over some of the enterprises “in the name of DOS” continued with the combinations in establishing the new government which seems to be extremely attractive for the winners especially after the amendment of the city statute which prescribes that all the members of the city government, for the sake of increased efficiency, shall be paid by the city assembly. This means ten paid officials of the city government plus the prime minister with the same number of offices, secretaries, telephones, and all the privileges such posts imply.

For instance, to one of the local heads of DOS the sphere of culture appeared to be very attractive and in the distribution of portfolios he publicly declared that he would “really like to have this sphere”. He asked many people who are in touch with culture to advise and help him until he sees how the land lies. After all the combinations, however, the sphere of information fell to his lot. Since he is a lawyer by trade, he is now consulting people from the sphere of information preparing for his new duty. To the question of his colleagues “do you have the courage to accept the duty involving such high responsibility” he laconically answered “of course I do, you have no idea what sorts of different things I used to do”.

Another member of city government, for example, expressed readiness to take over the department of small-scale industry. His pretext was that he himself owned a green-grocery store. Whether he will become an expert for small-scale industry remains to be seen, but one should not doubt that he will use all his knowledge and experience acquired in his own “small privately-owned business venture” at the new post.

At this moment, managerial posts in different public enterprises are being distributed. This is a big challenge. To be the winner and immediately a manager of a big enterprise gives great satisfaction. Nobody speaks of platforms, expertise, experience and results in previous jobs, knowledge of foreign languages. The main trump card is the victory in the elections. It will also be the essential and alluring slogan in the forthcoming campaign for Republican elections. The power won is something else. The voters in Serbia have not much choice and that is why the newly elected local authorities at least for the time being do not have to be too concerned because of their actions and unmet pre-election promises. Except for the four-year term in office they have won, the former regime which is still very present in political and everyday life in Serbia also works for their benefit. And for as long as SPS, JUL and the Radicals are here, DOS has nothing to worry about.

Olivera S. Tomic

(AIM)