LEADING PARTIES IN RS

AIM Banja Luka

Diversity of political life and pluralism of parties which appeared on the political sky of Republika Srpska in post-Dayton period seriously warns the analysts and connoisseurs about the need to re-examine former notions about organization of political life.

But, when speaking of the criteria of attitude to power in Republika Srpska (RS), however, everything is quite clear. During the entire war, one and one only party has been in power - the Serb Democratic Party (SDS). The Serb Party of the Serb Lands, as its full name goes, according to many criteria ranks first in RS. It is the only party which can be said to be "mass", without causing derision. According to allegations of some of its leaders, the leading party in RS should have more than a hundred thousand members, although the assessment that there are 80 thousand of them seems more realistic. Besides, the SDS is the only party of the leadership type, since its unquestioned leader, Dr Radovan Karadzic, was elected president for the second time at its Second Convention on June 28 this year, despite indictment for war crimes. It is also the only party from the group of the so-called large parties in RS which are autochtonous and authentic political organizations from the space of RS, i.e. Bosnia & Herzegovina. It has no headquatrters in Belgrade - although its leaders often go there for opinions - but its seat is in "Serb Sarajevo" (!?), i.e. in Pale, so this too makes it an exception, since almost all other relevant parties of RS have their seats in Banja Luka. Concerning the national issue, this party firmly persists on complete and final secession from the state community with the other two nations in B&H. It advocates independence of RS and union with the parent country - Serbia, regardless of the cost, even if it takes sacrificing lives of all the Serbs!

According to the number of members and organization, the Socialist Party of RS (SPRS) and the Serb Radical Party (SRS) can be classified next to the SDS. Apart from the ruling party, these two are the only ones which have municipal committees in all the municipalities of RS, which is evident from the fact that they have submitted lists of candidates for the forthcoming elections in all the municipalities. They both have seats in Banja Luka, but the head in Belgrade.

As it was stated at the first Congress of the SPRS in Banja Luka a month ago, this party has about 40 thousand members, and its leaders stress that it constantly increases. The SPRS was founded during the war, in mid 1993, and it belongs in the group of parties of leftist orientation. At the mentioned congress, the party elected Zivko Radisic for its new chief, who is a calm politician of the old type, one of the rare current party leaders who has some previous political experience. At the post of the president of this party he has replaced haughty Dr Dragutin Ilic, radical leftist and uncompromising critic of the ruling party and regime in RS. This party now lives more off the charisma, assistance and support of the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic than thanks to its own program and objectives it supports. In the national ambitions, the SPRS is in favour of union with Serbia and Montenegro, but not at all costs and contrary to wishes of the international factors. This means that it does not deny the connections with the Federation B&H, but considers it to be temporary and transitional.

In organizing the coalition Alliance for Peace and Progress (SMP), the Socialists lent some of their reputation and power to the coalition partners. That is how, for instance, among those who can hope to win the number of votes necessary to enter the Parliament of RS, are the Independent Social Democrats of RS, developed from the Club of Independent Deputies in the Assembly of RS, headed by the current leader of this party, Milorad Dodik. Dodik's Social Democrats managed to organize in 32 municipalities and gather about 7,500 members. Thanks to the coalition SMP, as of the coming autumn, the Social Liberal Party of RS, headed by Dr Miodrag Zivanovic, can also count on becoming a parliamentary party. It is the only party with a "purely" civic orientation and with a pre-war continuity and experience in the work of Banja Luka "parliament". That is how even the Associated Leftists will probably acquire the parliamentary status thanks to the coalition.

Contrary to SP RS which is not impatient cooncerning union with the parent country, the Serb Radical Party of RS, headed by Prof. Dr Nikola Poplasen, is in favour of urgent union with "mother" Serbia, whatever it may cost. The main obstacle for that they believe is the personality and actions of Slobodan Milosevic, who they say is the second greatest traitor of Serbdom, after the mythic traitor Vuk Brankovic.

The Radicals have a tendency towards internal divisions, so that by splits, another two radical parties emerged. Back in 1993, the National Radical Party "Nikola Pasic" separated from it, and then in the second half of 1995, Radical Party "Nikola Pasic" was founded, headed by Banja Luka oil smuggler Branko Djukic, who publicly brags with the fact that he has not completed even elementary school.

Dissidents and "outcasts" of the SRS formed also one of the youngest parties in RS - the Serb Party of Krajina (SSK) which is headed by Professor Predrag Lazarevic, intellectual of significant reputation not only in Banja Luka, who is also the son of the last "Ban" (Governor) of Vrbaska Banovina (Dominion). This party has a regional orientation, it is in favour of RS as a republic of regions, so many accuse it for secessionism of (Bosnian) Krajina. It considers itself a party of rightist centre, equally nationally as well as civic-society oriented.

In the same manner, through "heretic division", the National Party of RS was formed, but this time by excommunicated members of the SDS, Radoslav Brdjanin, former deputy, minister and vice Prime minister of RS, and Milan Trbojevic, also former deputy and minister in the government of RS. There are also a few former members of the SDS with them, some of whom were expelled, and some of whom were dissatisfied with the way they were treated and with the status they had in SDS, and joined the party which calls itself "the party of justice and truth". They are a party of right centre, they advocate union with Serbia and recognize the reality of "Dayton Bosnia".

The closest to them, although they call themselves "the party of centre and Serb combatants", are members of the Serb Patriotic Party (SPAS) whose president is Slavko Zupljanin, engineer. Although this party has branches in Pale and Terebinje, Zvornik and Bijeljina, it mostly "gravitates" towards Krrajina. According to them, Dayton accords are the minimum of Serb interests and reintegration with B&H is completely out of the question.

Election coalition Democratic Patriotic Block is formed of five political parties which could be classified among the so-called "small parties" - none of them has party organization and "infrastructure" even on one third of the territory of RS, and it also belongs among parties of the centre, although its leaders and important officials are some red-hot nationalists and people who would have difficulties in providing evidence of the origin of their wealth in any state ruled by law, and even more difficulties in justifying some of their "heroic" deeds in the past war.

The main force and, at the same time, weakness of this block reflects in the fact that its coordinator, and presidential candidate, Predrag Radic, has by far better reputation, more authority and charisma, than the parties united in the block can offer support to him. For the sake of truth, it should be said that Radic's credibility is not as great as it is sometimes presented in Yugoslav and other media and among certain "political circles", but it is undoubtedly greater than that of any individual "leader" of the parties in the block and all of them put together.

The second central figure of the coalition, Prof. Dr Mladen Ivanic, is a politician with a reputation and experience (he was once the youngest member of the Presidency of the former Republic of B&H), so that it can cause confusion in a part of the electorate that such two strong men have agreed to lead the block of unrespactable parties.

But, of course, this is not the only reason due to which analysts and connoisseurs of the science of politics must re-examine all the former knowledge on political organizing.

(AIM) Miladin Kostovic