Socialists without Milosevic

Turmoil in Socialist Party of Serbia

Almost equally the personnel policy of the Socialist Party of Serbia is at this moment created by Slobodan Milosevic through letters sent from the Central Prison in Belgrade, and the Republican Ministries of justice and internal affairs through frequent statements in which the public is informed about who of the once prominent Socialists will soon end up in prison or be summoned by an investigative judge

AIM Belgrade, April 14, 2001

At this moment this is how the land lies when Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) is concerned: whomever Milosevic nominates for a new party post is usually threatened with jail practically the next day. For instance, a few days ago Milosevic sent a message from prison that he temporarily nominated Zivadin Jovanovic, former federal foreign minister and one of vice-presidents of SPS, to lead the party. However, Jovanovic might very soon be deprived of assembly immunity (he is a deputy in the federal parliament) and then even appear in front of an investigative judge on suspicion that while he was at the post of the foreign minister he on several occasions received from Mihalj Kertes, former director of the Federal Customs Administration, enormous sums of money in German marks in cash which he then spent on international activities of the Socialists. From his prison cell Milosevic has also decided to promote Branislav Ivkovic, head of the group of Socialist deputies in Serbian assembly, whom he appointed to be one of the vice-presidents of the party. A day or two later, Ivkovic was also mentioned as a very serious candidate for a very serious investigation on more or less the same suspicion - spending the money from the budget on party business.

Bogoljub Bjelica, president of Belgrade Stari grad municipal organisation of SPS, is also in prison for two weeks already. Bjelica is indicted (based on the so-called paraphine glove) that together with the Yugoslav Leftist oriented Chetnik Sinisa Vucinic he had shot at members of special police units who were trying to take Slobodan Milosevic into custody. By sheer coincidence, Bjelica was also one of the Socialists Milosevic wished to squeeze into the very top of the party – at one moment he was believed to be the unofficial candidate for president of Belgrade organisation of SPS, and when that failed the boss intended to slip him into the executive board of the party as a man of his greatest confidence (the story goes that he was entrusted with the task to take over the leadership of Belgrade committee of the party from Ivica Dacic). Instead in the executive board of SPS, Bjelica ended up in prison. After all these Milosevic's nominations and reactions of the ministries in charge, the Socialists (who are in no mood for jokes) invented jokingly the internal curse: “May Sloba promote you”.

Even if it were not for the investigative judge who was at his heels, Zivadin Jovanovic would not have stayed for long at the post of party coordinator whose task was to keep the party going until Milosevic came out of jail. All things considered, former president of FRY will be absent for quite some time that will inevitably very soon bring about the beginning of the struggle for the leading post among the once close associates of the until recently unquestioned leader, and in that possible test of strength Jovanovic did not have a very big chance to triumph. Milosevic, who has never liked ambitious associates, choose Jovanovic primarily because he was convinced that he had no serious ambitions to be the leader, nor did he have a very high reputation within the party. Jovanovic is extremely loyal and belongs among the Socialists for whom the momentary top priority is defence of the former leader and not reflection on what will happen to this party once Milosevic is definitely removed from politics and the possibility to seriously affect anything.

Much before Milosevic landed in prison, once powerful Socialists Dragan Tomic and Milan Milutinovic were deprived of the chances to take over the role of his successor and prepare ground for his withdrawal. The former chairman of the Assembly of Serbia and head of Belgrade Socialists Dragan Tomic hurried on October 6 already to convene the session of Serbian parliament where the election of Vojislav Kostunica for president of FRY was ratified. The conviction that is quite widespread among the Socialists is that Tomic is one of the biggest delusions of SPS, a “self-interested coward”, a man who immediately agreed to cooperation with the new regime in order to avoid trials and confiscation of everything he had gained during his political career. Since October 5 Tomic has not even stopped by the party premises and he was thrown out of the party just recently with the explanation that he has encumbered SPS with a debt of about 300 million dinars. While he was the director of Jugopetrol he promised that he would with the company's money build new premises for the party in the building of JUBMES bank, and that close by in New Belgrade he would build a concert hall and a building where Kosava, TV station owned by Milosevic's daughter, would be accommodated. Tomic has carried out the first part of the deal but it turned out that he did not pay for it, so the bill was made out not to Jugopetrol but to SPS, the economically staggering firm which cannot count on the money procured by loyal directors or Mihalj Kertes any more.

Two days after Milosevic had been taken to prison Milan Milutinovic, the still current president of Serbia, submitted resignation to all the posts in the party. Immediately after the October developments and Milosevic's loss of power, Milutinovic was promoted to one of the vice-presidents of SPS. It seemed at the time that the “boss” was gradually preparing him for a “coordinator” in case of some unplanned circumstances. It was estimated later that Milutinovic was too lenient towards the victorious coalition and that he “legalised their coup” with his decisions. At the latest session of the Main Board (before going to jail) Slobodan Milosevic reproached Milutinovic for failing to use the authority invested in him by the Constitution. He was asked to refuse to sign “detrimental laws” and to pardon Dragoljub Milanovic, former director of Radio-Television Serbia and Rade Markovic, former head of Serbian State Security Service. Milutinovic waited for Milosevic to go to prison and then informed the public that due to unacceptable pressure exerted by his party comrades he was resigning to all the posts he had held in the party. Last week his party comrades decided to throw him out of SPS with the (unpublished) explanation that at this moment no member could criticise the party in the way Milutinovic had done it.

The well-informed claim that in the once monolithic SPS gathered around the unquestioned leader, at this moment it is possible to discern a few different splits and divisions at the top. The first and the most significant (one might say the least visible, too) is allegedly the division between the hard-line faction and the somewhat more moderate, liberal faction of this party. The unanimous stand on “unjust and illegal” arrest and keeping Slobodan Milosevic in prison seems to conceal the division between those who believe that “freedom for Sloba” should be the only objective and contents of the struggle of SPS in immediate future, and those who think that (despite verbal support to the former president) Socialists have more urgent matters to attend to. For example, that could be the effort to patch up this party and keep it going in these transitional times from the defeat and scandals which are shaking up its ranks and to turn to social issues because that might be the card many from DOS might bet on from now on. The Socialists are also divided into those who have a clear conscience and those who are nervously listening to the telephone and the doorbell expecting the investigative judge to knock at their doors. This “purge” of SPS by the judiciary and the police has just begun and many members of the party (those who sleep more peacefully) can hardly wait for the end of this story in order to begin competing for Milosevic's heritage with somewhat more certainty. Majority of those who have aspirations for the leading posts in the party are trying to partly restrain their ambitions. Despite everything, many in SPS claim that chances of Ivica Dacic have increased lately, since he enjoys the support of Belgrade party organisation, but not that of Milosevic. Branislav Ivkovic seems to be the most popular among the Socialists from inside Serbia, and some other less known politicians might soon spring up from the background who believe that this party is worth saving from political debacle.

Although Milosevic is evidently still trying to lead the party from prison information are slowly starting to travel in the opposite direction that a part of the current party leadership does not stand at attention whenever his name is mentioned. Milosevic's message arrived last week from jail that Slavica Djukic Dejanovic be appointed at the post of secretary general of SPS instead of Zoran Andjelkovic Baki. The so-called “moderate” party faction rejected (at least for the time being) this initiative of their chief and opposed the demand of the “hard-line” faction that Milosevic's will must be obeyed without objection. The boss certainly will not like the news either that at the latest protest of the Socialists held on Saturday in front of the Serbia's government building there were hardly more than two thousand people who demanded that he be released. That same afternoon the leadership of SPS stated that in the streets of Belgrade more than 20 thousand people had demanded that Milosevic be set free from jail. This was just another proof that this party has maintained many old ways that had cost it its power and that regardless of the story on “hard and moderate” Socialists, SPS is still far from adopting a realistic party platform.

Nenad Lj. Stefanovic

(AIM)