A LEFT STRAIGHT

Socialists of Serbia Facing a New Eighth Session

By relieving of duty Milorad Vucelic, the Director of the regime-backed Television of Serbia, what many JUL members knew of, while even some top SPS officals did not, Milosevic inflicted a blow to four Party lobbies: the "national", "businessmen", "clerical" and the lobby of "local bosses".

AIM, Beograd, September 4, 1995

Many members were unable to hide their surprise when ten days ago Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Serbia and the "frozen" President of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia appeared at the session of the Main Board. To put it simply: they did not expect Milosevic. Milosevic's appearance was prompted by warnings that a major attack was being prepared on JUL, the movement headed by Dr Mira Markovic, his wife.

His sudden arrival indicated that what JUL member Zoran Cicak only a month ago announced would come true: "The Eighth Session within the SPS ranks". However, Cicak was at that time removed from the top echalones of JUL, as it now seems not only because of the old unsettled score with Zoran Todorovic, Secretary General of the United Left, but also because he "sounded his bugle" too early and "disclosed the action".

The Surprise

The session of the Main Board was characterized by the conflict between Mihajlo Markovic, the SPS party "ideologue" until recently, and Slobodan Milosevic. Markovic accused Milosevic of pursuing a bad national, state and personnel policy and also reproached him for favouring the JUL. None of the present members agreed with Markovic, nor refuted his words. Milosevic was the only one to do that, but his words met with silence.

Precisely when scant details on the show-down among the socialists started reaching the public, political gossip was launched on the removal from office of Milorad Vucelic, the Director of the state television and Head of the Siocialists' Club of Deputies in the Serbian Assembly. For this whole story it is extremly important to know that the it originated in JUL circles, and that its members (Cicak and Ljiljana Habjanovic - Djurovic) have been demanding Vucelic's resignation for over a year now through the papers (that list also included Bora Jovic, Mihajlo Markovic, Brana Crncevic, Milomir Minic) and that Aleksandar Tijanic, the present Director of the BK Television (closely related to Mira Markovic) also lost his position as the Director of TV Politika on account of similar demands.

Appalled were also some socialist Ministers when Ratomir Vico, Minister of Information suggested at the Government's session that Vucelic be relieved, under the agenda item "Miscellaneous". Some thought that an "agreement" between Prime Minister Marjanovic and Mira Markovic was in question, but during the break, after several phone calls found out whence the wind blows and therefore tried to "change their opinion". And Nada Popovic-Perisic, Minister of Culture, was the one to reveal whence the wind was blowing, by saying: "If Milorad Vucelic refuses to accept the suggestion of the President of the Republic, then we have nothing more to talk about". Hence, Milosevic was the one to demand Vucelic's resignation, while the Director of the Television preferred to be relieved of office.

Why did Milosevic relieve Vucelic? Probably least of all to fulfill the wishes of Dr Mira Markovic (who, without any explanation has not published her "Diary" in the last two issues of the "Duga" magazine), but rather because Vucelic did not show sufficient enthisiasm and creativity in the television presentation of Milosevic's new policy - "peace at any cost"; because he attacked the JUL without official permission; because he retained an excessive degree of "patriotism - nationalism"; because he overzealously dedicated himself to "private business"...

Milosevic's relieving Vucelic of office struck a much harder blow at the four party lobbies: the "national", "businessmen", "clerical" and the lobby of "local bosses", than did his dispute with Mihajlo Markovic. The Socialist Party is an assembly of people gathered together around state monopolies on money, the army, the police and the "truth", who want to use them to their own maximum benefit. "Ideologically" they are divided into several groups.

The "left" - people close to the JUL: Slobodan Unkovic, Radmilo Bogdanovic, Vladimir Stambuk; the "businessmen lobby": the two Tomics, Tomica Raicevic, Dusan Matkovic, Nikola Sainovic, Mirko Marjanovic, Perucic, Nebojsa Covic; the "clerical lobby": Milorad Minic, Zoran Andjelkovic; the lobby of "local bosses": Dobrivoje Budimirovic, Raka Radovic...Vucelic had extremely good relations with the "businessmen" lobby (there are unconfirmed rumors that he himself tried making money and that he has a firm in Switzerland) with which he shares his beliefs that neither the JUL nor the Serbian Revival Movement should be allowed to expand within the Government, or by entering the Government (which was the subject of rather intensive talks these last days) - to get a share of the cake which only the SPS is now "eating".

Sloba's Offer to "Relatives"

It is a fact that the "dethroning" of Vucelic absolutely by-passed the SPS party structure, meaning that Milosevic in this way sent a message to the "structure" that it was not so powerful after all. And that party establishment would certainly fall on the hierarchical ladder with the entering of SPS into the JUL. Up to now precisely the people from the "local bosses" lobby where the ones who demonstrated the greatest intolerance towards the aggressive JUL, as the left movement tried (and somewhere even succeeded) to take over some of the power in the field. The harshest clashes between the JUL and the SPS happened precisely in the local field, of which the one in Topola, where Bora Jovic controls the socialists, grew into the symbol of resistance of the ruling party against the aggressive proteges of Mira Markovic.

It seems that of all the reasons for conflict with people from his own party Milosevic would first rectify the one he has with his wife's party. According to some information it has been decided to launch a discussion in local organizations of socialists regarding their relations with the JUL. Others claim that already at the mentioned Main Board Milosevic stated that it was not allowed to be a member of both the SPS and the JUL at the same time.

For better understanding the complex political mosaic in Serbia it is necessary to add to this the recent coinciding of stands of the SPS and Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Revival Movement. Although an influential SPS official told us that this should not be understood as an announcement of a possible coalition, a SPO member claims: "Sloba offers us so much that there will enough to go around for all our relatives".

It seems that at the moment when he is bracing himself to sign the "capitulaton of his own policy", Milosevic wanted to drag as many people as possible into this wretched business, to share the burden of defeat with others and at the same time prove himself a true leader of all the Serbs, and not only the absolute priest of the socialists. Thus, he has recently "defrosted" his relations with the Director of the "Politika" company, Zivorad Minovic, with whose help at one time he consolidated his position. Members of his party will also have to abide by this new policy, endeavouring in the process to have Milosevic give others as little as possible and preserve maximum power and money for his own party.

It is not characteristic of Milosevic to fling presents about. Simply: just as there would be no SPS without Slobodan Milosevic, he would not have the power he has without the socialist party structure. Naturally, as proven many times, Milosevic's rating among the voters in Serbia was always higher than the one SPS had. A marriage of convenience is the briefest possible description of the relationship between the SPS and Milosevic.

That is why a member of SPO thinks that Milosevic will "get rid of approximately another dozen of either guilty or innocent, important or unimportant SPS heads in order to discipline his party, to show who is the boss; as well as that the JUL will drown in the SPS as it has lost its only and favorite subject - the renewal of a 'greater' Yugoslavia".

A businessman, member of the opposition, well versed in the situation within the SPS, reasons differently: "The JUL has finally realized that Milosevic's priority now is foreign policy. That is why it has launched an offensive and shall try to expand its presence in the Government. It will not mind if the SPO joins the Government, nor a new prime-minister designate from the ranks of the New Democracy, as both these moves will weaken the power of the socialists, which is most important for the JUL at the moment".

In all these combinations Milosevic will be the judge. In the past he has shown his skill to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, to throw a bone of contention among his allies, to use them a little and then "freeze" them a little. Therefore no conclusions should be drawn with haste, as these days there might be new strippings of ranks among the socialists or "promotions" among the JUL and SPS members of Vuk Draskovic. For example, Milosevic knew how to use Mladic to settle scores with Karadzic although he knew all along that it was more difficult to control the general and that he was a much harder nut to crack than the Pale leader. Inter-personal relations, i.e. "personnel policy" is Milosevic's game.

Dragan Bujosevic