NEW THREATS OF DR MIRJANA MARKOVIC

Increasing of Tensions on the Political Scene of Serbia

Temperature on the political scene of Serbia suddenly went up after the warning and threat of Dr Mira Markovic that citizens who are disturbed by the demonstrations may lose patience and start giving vent to their wrath, and this, according to her words, may lead to an inter-Serbian conflict. These threats were marked by President of the Serb Revival Movement and one of the leaders of the Together coalition, Vuk Draskovic, as a call to terrorism and he demanded that leadership of the Yugoslav United Left be arrested.

AIM Belgrade, 21 January, 1997

President of the Board of the Yugoslav United Left (JUL), Dr Mirjana Markovic, openly warned that current disobedience of citizens and students, whom she considers to be misled by the Together coalition, might develop into an inter-Serbian conflict whose ultimate outcome would be disappearance of Serbia as a state, forecasting for the Serbs the destiny of European Kurds. This threat stated in her regular "Diary" published by the biweekly Duga, caused a significant dose of fear especially among the connoisseurs, because her texts have as a rule announced what could happen in the future, because it is believed that, being the wife of the President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic, she is well informed about intentions of her spouse, and there are some who even claim that in creation of Milosevic's policy, she has the decisive role.

Her message was received in the ranks of the opposition as an open threat that everyday peaceful protests caused by manipulations of the results of the second election round for local authorities, which have begun their third month, would not be tolerated, because, as Dr Markovic forecasted, they could provoke wrath and counter-reactions among citizens who were disturbed by these manifestations in which whistles, pots and pans and other objects for making noise were used. This means that the police which is now fully equipped and armed controlling gatherings of the opposition under the pretext that it is preventing disturbing of the traffic, or other authorities would not intervene, but that the conflict would break out because a neighbour would raise his hand against his neighbour. And this means a conflict between two floors of a single building, between two buildings, after which the conflict would be impossible to control, or in other words, light would be turned out in the "Serbian tavern" and nobody would know any more who would be fighting against whom in the dark. Dr Markovic forecasts that this threat would occur after breaking of the tiniest link which is, according to her opinion, the inclination of the Serbs to vehemently express their mutual disunity. As she explains, that is the card used at this moment to ruin the present Yugoslavia, just as blazing up of inter-ethnic intolerance was used in destroying the previous one.

Those who know Dr Markovic well believe her to be a very dangerous person not only because she declared on one occasion that she returns both good and evil done to her with twice as much, but because they attribute to her an exceptionally significant role in the career of her husband, who exactly ten years ago took over control in Serbia in a dramatic manner. At the time, at the notorious 8th party session which is nowadays by many considered to be fatal in Serbian history, he removed the then president of Serbia Ivan Stambolic, the very same person who had brought Milosevic into politics in a grand manner and appointed him to the key party post. Even at the time, Dragoslav Markovic, the controversial Serbian politician with great power in Serbia, but quite repulsive in collective leadership of former Yugoslavia for the officials from other former republics, warned that Milosevivc and his wife might become very dangerous for Serbia and its people. Many at the time did not take this warning seriously, especially because Milosevic's political career was still going upward, and Dragoslav Markovic's had almost ended. However, connoisseurs of the circumstances at the time claim that Mira Markovic, acting behind the scene by a means of a certain circle of politically active students, was helping the outcome of the 8th session.

Due to the circumstances in Kosovo at the time, without the consent of his wife, Milosevic was already clad in a nationalistic costume and carried by the wave of nationalism, he set out to resolve the problem Serbia had with its two provinces, which due to a broad autonomy acquired by the 1974 Constitution acted independently from Serbia. Strengthening of Serbia was not the interest of the other republics, so in order to be taken seriously, Milosevic shouted that Serbia would either be a state or it would perish.

In those days, hardly any significance was attributed to this slogan, but if it is connected with what Dr Markovic is pointing out now, that is that the Serbs may become European Kurds, the latter possibility announced by Milosevic at the time does not seem impossible any more. The text by Dr Mira Markovic was received also as a message that the authorities had no intention to recognize results of the second round of the elections which caused separate protests of the Together coalition and the students. Under pressure of the international community, Milosevic does not dare use force against peaceful demonstrations which are making life of the ruling regime bitter, so ways are being sought how to take off the edge of the discontent of the citizens.

Dr Mira Markovic is trying to explain to them that it is not realistic to expect in a short time after lifting of the sanctions to have their previous standard of living returned to them, nor their employments. The message conveyed by her text is that by expressing discontent one can lose even what one has now rather than get more. This is not her first attempt to play the role of the savior. She first tried to save former Yugoslavia with the generals, and when she realized that with the party which gathered discreditted generals she could not achieve this goal, she founded JUL, surrounding herself this time mostly with directors. In the elections for the federal parliament she formed a coalition with the party of her husband who had previously been forced to remove some people from the very top. It is believed that Borisav Jovic, Mihajlo Markovic and Milorad Vucelic were removed at the demand of Mira Markovic, as well as the former mayor of Belgrade, Slobodanka Gruden. For the failure in the second round of elections for local administrations, when Together coalition won majority in Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac and other cities of Serbia, the current mayor of Belgrade Nebojsa Covic had to pay, as it seems again at the wink of Mira Markovic who is by many believed to be in charge of cadres.

Her mentioned text was received by the Together coalition as an unconcealed call to inter-Serbian conflict (between "partisans and chetniks" again), so that this week rallies were marked by expressing discontent with this thesis. President of the Civic Alliance Vesna Pesic called JUL a Stalinist party and with a great deal of irony observed that she was the one who had been invited to the gathering of European social democratic parties, and not Mira Markovic, who as the leader of the leftists should have been there. Draskovic called upon the army and the police to openly declare themselves in relation to the threat in Mira Markovic's diary, demanding that the leadership of JUL be arrested.

There will be no arrests, of course, at least not the one demanded by Draskovic, but it is evident that relations on the political scene of Serbia are moving towards a dramatic denouement. The authorities are almost paralyzed because with the existing obstruction they cannot devote themselves to keeping the economic crisis at bay without which the number of the discontented will continue increasing. The regime is completely isolated from the international community which as a condition for normalization of relations first demands recognition of the second round of the elections. Two-month protest of citizens which the regime cannot publicly oppose increases discontent which is approaching a critical point. In the beginning discontent could be pacified by recognition of the second round of the elections. In the meantime, however, many mutual heavy accusations were heard, so that it has become uncertain whether only election results are at stake or something much "more than just a game".

(AIM) Ratomir Petkovic