MILOSEVIC'S DEFEAT BY THE PEOPLE

Smell of Civil War in Serbia

Gazimestan in Belgrade

AIM Belgrade, 25 December, 1996

Slobodan Milosevic, for almost ten years now has been flying an aircraft of dubious origin with the citizen of Serbia as his passengers; this flight is long, painstaking and uncertain; those who get sick of it, jump out and people are frantically jumping out; the aircraft, however, continues to fly and circle, because, as this story goes, Milosevic not only does not know how to land - he does not know how to fly either!

But, as almost the whole world admits, he is capable of finding his way in the fog just perfectly! That this is true there is not a better testimony than the latest developments in Serbia, when "the first man of Serbia, with his wise policy", succeeded to raise the Serbs against the other Serbs! Finally!

Known for his ideological inflexibility and inclination towards strong, hasty, and at times, insane resolutions, the President of Serbia, after 34 days of protest of citizens in Belgrade and cities of Serbia, as a result of classical plunder of votes in local elections, organized a counter-rally in support to himself! Sources close to the ruling, Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), claim that the latest national "hero" ("both Obilic and emperor Lazar") demanded that literally at least 400 thousand "members" be summoned in front of him, or else, he would not "address the public"! But, the resolute demand from his office that the official policy of Serbia must be "washed" in the eyes of the world by the number of participants at the rally of support "to wise policy of President Milosevic", and the other side catapulted among the very top world political terrorists, was opposed in Belgrade, as the regime-controlled media have a custom to say

• by "a handful of accidental passers-by and fascistoid adolescent half-wits", and on that, as it turned out for Milosevic misfortunate Monday, 24 December, gathered in at least five times greater number than the supporters of the regime! And then blood was shed: from immediate vicinity, a member of the SPS who arrived from "in an organized column" from Vrbas, shot a member of the opposition Serb Revival Movement (SPO) in the head!

What was happening before, during and after the "counter-rally" of support to the "wise policy of Slobodan Milosevic" and the already clear outlines of the forthcoming "happenings of the people", shows that "the first among the Serbs" has divided Serbia into two classical political reservations and instead of the slogan - "All Serbs in a single state" - launched a new slogan: "All members of the SPS in my state"! And not just that: from the stage in the central Belgrade Terazije square, to the gathered "supporters" forcibly brought from the interior of Serbia, Milosevic decidedly announced two wars which he would wage in the future

• a war against "world power-wielders" and a war gainst "the fifth columnists", personified, according to stances of the SPS and JUL (Yugoslav United Left), by members of the opposition parties and editorial offices of the few independent media in FRY! A man with his brain blown to bits, tens of beaten up citizens, hundreds of demolished buses and hatred between political opponents, the bill which any "external" or "internal enemy of Serbia" would be proud of, was signed personally by the - "guarantor of Dayton accords"! Like always, it was paid by the citizens, and in history of the Balkans, Milosevic will remain registered as the only politician who has managed to repeat his inauguration of a dictator twice in a very short time!

Relying on dubious credits he has earned as a man who has prevented reducing political culture to national pathos and "inevitable nationalistic bullying", with an expression of resoluteness which he rarely takes off his face, Milosevic tried to nullify the will of the voters in the local elections. Like in previous occasions, "the guarantor of peace in the Balkans" resorted to designing a fait accompli counting on the fact that "the rotten West" would forgive him! This time, the formula he had used so often, failed because assistance of foreigners did not arrive, who obviously were not ready to get involved in a new possibility to remove obstacles from Milosevic's road to consolidate his power!

This person who knows what power means, can therefore do nothing but rely on "internal cadre", such as Mirjana Markovic, his coalition partner and partner in marriage; Zoran Lilic, nominal president of the FRY whose function is reduced to sending telegrams of congratulations and receiving them; Dragan Tomic, chairman of the Serbian parliament who has recently accused the students of fascism and who is also the manager of the national oil company Jugopetrol; Zoran Todorovic-Kundak (butt-end), not just party "offspring" of Milosevic's wife; Dusan Matkovic, minister in the Government of the Socialists and high party official who called his party comrades on 9 March 1991 at the "counter-rally" to settle accounts with the students... They advised him to organize a new "counter-rally" convened at the same time and at the same place where this winter for five weeks already, without a single incident, tens thousand people are demonstrating, both members of the opposition coalition Together, but also students and "ordinary" people who have obviously experienced a serious shift in their minds in the past years. This was his third, and it seems, his last - GAZIMESTAN!

In Kosovo, in a place called Gazimestan, which has mythic connotations for the Serbs, on the eve of the war in former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic initiated a real small war with his words... The result was - abolition of autonomy of the provinces! At the time when "the magnificent six", as the then heads of the Yugoslav republics were called, travelled from city to city trying to reach an agreement, his attitude was marked as Gazimestan No. 2... Bloodshed followed and former Yugoslavia was abolished! Gazimestan No. 1 was rhetoric, Gazimestan No. 2 was - war! Gazimestan No. 3 convened by Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade Terazije smells like - civil war!

Resignation because of dragged Milosevic's supporters to Belgrade (given free transportation, three meals and 50 dinars of travelling allowance) simply had to be replaced by sympathy when in groups of 10 to 30 people, mobilized "admirers of Sloba's person and actions" started coming along the streets which led to the centre of the city. The encounter between the rural and the urban provoked the first tears, because citizens of Belgrade, not only out of pity, of course, pulled people dressed in old, mostly summer clothes, out of the line and asked them to join them for a cup of coffee and not go to the rally. During the morning hours, while everything was still "pursuant the law", emotions were stirred up to such an extent that a bunch of news photographers, after making shots of a scene which only life itself in this space could direct, reached for handkerschiefs to wipe away their tears! Three young girls, beautiful, of course, crying, dragged a fellow of their age from a column just arrived from Kosovo, saying:

"To hell with the News on TV... Let the grown-ups go, come with us!"

"Retreat", was the response of the "guard" in charge of the group from Kosovo.

The attempt of the young "Kosovar" to join the young and beautiful, but "led astray and manipulated Belgrade women" was prevented by twisting his arm! And the scene ended with tears on both sides!

But there were not just positive emotions! Only at about 14.00 hours, the opposed groups of Milosevic's sympathizers and his opponents were separated by cordons of special police units who were so far in these "hot" days charged only with the task to prevent columns of students to get to Dedinje, the private seat of Slobodan Milosevic and others from the top echelons of the authorities. Numerous fights, bloody noses, thrown vegetables and eggs all over the place, 58 officially injured citizens, one man shot - this is the balance account of Milosevic's "counter-rally" in the heart of Belgrade. It will certainly be remembered that the special police units arrived at the square where Milosevic spoke only just before he was brought to the nearby Hotel Moscow (what a coincidence) from where "organizers" of Milosevic's rally (who are still anonymous, even in statements which are frantically repeated in all the state-controlled media) got power for their loud-speakers. Theatrically imitating Josip Broz Tito, waving his hand in a well-known gesture, but with a trembling voice, before he promoted a new bunch of domestic traitors and mercenaries and informed the public about a conspiracy against him, Milosevic told the masses:

"I love you too!"

The people who he loved at that moment, in front of TV cameras, that same night, were not seen off by anyone. The police withdrew little after the President of Serbia, and the mobilized "sympathizers of the person and actions of comrade Sloba" were left at the mercy of the other side which was showered by tear gas and exposed to wrath of policemen who applied their knowledge of "baton democracy", that is responded in the manner which, mildly speaking, cannot be said to be democratic. The day after the "counter-rally", small groups of people from the interior of the country could still be seen roaming around Belgrade, looking for transportation to their native places! Local jesters directed them towards the Surcin airport! Radio-Television Serbia is silent about it, as well as about the murder of a member of the SPO, and accuses the "fascists in the ranks of the opposition" for disorder in the city!

This coincides with the ever-lasting pattern of survival of Slobodan Milosevic! Before the war, Zagreb Vjesnik published an interesting title, an anagram formed of the letters of Slobodan Milosevic's name ("ON LOS MI ODVEC SLABI") which means: he is bad but we are too weak. With the "skill" of his rule, Milosevic managed to turn even this joke into reality. Until this day, until this November, until this "shift in the heads" of the people in Serbia...! In the night when Milosevic almost caused a civil war, at the plateau in front of the Assembly of the FRY completely surrounded by strong police forces, a banner lay on the ground:

"Sloba - Progress - Serbia"!

With a pencil underneath this message, it was added:

"I have changed my mind"!

Gazimestan No. 1 was rhetoric, Gazimestan No. 2 - meant war! Milosevic will either be given an international flying permit or he will have to pay dearly for this attempt at Gazimestan No. 3!

Citizens of Serbia are not "flying" with him any more! At least not, and not majority of them!

(AIM) Slavisa Lekic