Kragujevac Socialists in the Wake of Milosevic's Arrest

Socialists against the Hague & DOS

Kragujevac Socialist party chapter president Milan Zivanovic says the ruling coalition is to blame for people being worse off than before and predicts that in the fall there will be an "explosion of social dissatisfaction"

AIM Belgrade, July 18, 2001

When rallies for the defense of Slobodan Milosevic started in Belgrade, the Kragujevac Socialists decided it was the time for them to head that way. About three hundred of them, mostly older people, left for the capital, to defend "Sloba, our freedom," wanting to tell "NATO's lackeys and traitors," looking them straight into the eye, that "Serbia will not sell its sons." There were as many passengers for Belgrade as could fit into three buses and several cars.

Visibly tired, partly because of their age and partly because of earlier journeys to Belgrade, for five days in a row this group of acquaintances from Kragujevac, loudly criticized the government in Serbia, complaining of low pensions and deteriorating living conditions.

Pensioner Radoslav Maric believes that "every honest Serb has to be against the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic and his handing over to the Hague tribunal." He regrets the fact that nothing was done to prevent the extradition of Milosevic to The Hague and recalls that many people from Serbia participated in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, which means they all should be tried. "My son was a conscript when the war broke out, and his military service was extended for three months. He was in many places -- on the Dubrovnik front, in Serb Krajina and Baranja. Does this mean that he should be tried in The Hague as well?" says Maric, deeply shaken and adds that it is "illogical to try a man who was defending his country." He finally says that if he made mistakes, "Sloba should be tried at home, by his people," continuing then to complain of his small pension and his inability to make ends meet. When told that the current government is not responsible for the low standard of living and that the economic situation cannot be improved instantly, Maric agrees and adds, "If only the people could get some relief."

Pensioner Vera Simov also headed for Belgrade in a bid to topple the Serbian government for "betraying Serbs and Serbia." She wanted to say at the rally, in the capital city, that "the transfer of Milosevic to The Hague is treachery and a disgrace, because some people did that for money." She says that "by sending Sloba to The Hague, the DOS wanted to relieve the West of responsibility for bombing our country." Vera also says her two sons took part in the wars of the past decade "defending their people and country," and adds, "I am afraid that our children, who responded to the summons to defend the country will be considered traitors tomorrow."

A pensioner and former Zastava factory employee, Branko Misic, is the most vocal defender of Slobodan Milosevic." He says that his handing over to the Hague court was "the greatest betrayal of the Serb people." He categorically demands that the DOS government step down, because it betrayed the country. "If Milosevic had to be put on trial, that should have happened here, before our courts. If the government does not trust our courts, then it does not trust the state either," says Misic, fearing, as he put it, that "the transfer of our citizens to The Hague will not end with Milosevic."

The Kragujevac Socialists are convinced that Yugoslavia's cooperation with the Hague tribunal has strengthened and unified the party, bringing about its revival and allowing it to occupy the place that rightly belongs to it as the leading force on the opposition scene. According to the Socialist Party of Serbia regional center for Sumadija, the party has over 22,000 members. The Socialist believe that the DOS has failed in making good on its promises in Kragujevac, a town that is "a social time bomb" because is has 20,000 unemployed, 25,000 laid off workers, and some 16,000 refugees.

Milan Zivanovic, president of the party's Kragujevac chapter, blames the ruling coalition for people being worse off and predicts that in the fall, "an explosion of social dissatisfaction" is likely. "As an opposition party, using the institutions of the system and by organizing protest rallies the Socialists have to constantly point out the government's mistakes and advocate social justice," says Zivanovic. He stresses that people cannot live on donations, and that the government is incapable of organizing production. Therefore he concludes that "the future belongs to the Socialist party."

Olivera S. Tomic

(AIM)