Socialists' Troubles with Ambitious Seselj

WHO WILL RUN SERBIA?

The first conflicts in the right-left Government are expected at the distribution of places in Management Boards of public enterprises, including Radio-Television Serbia (RTS). Until now, Milosevic did not let anyone into this preserve in Takovska Street. Perhaps the decisive battle for power between the present coalition partners will be waged over TV screens. Both Milosevic and Seselj compete on TV "who cares more for the people".

AIM BELGRADE, 20 April, 1998

Observed from the side, the first month of the new Serbian Government composed of the Left and the Radicals, looks like a true honeymoon. Coalition partners are in agreement on every subject and Cabinet members are so much synchronized in their public addresses that they leave the impression of a one-party government to which the old slogan that "everyone is a Socialist to a certain degree", can be applied. But, for the time being, the usually sharp-tongued Radicals, who until recently read everyone a political lecture, respond to every provocative question of the press with a shrug and laconic: "We do not wish to irritate our coalition partners". It seems that the Radicals and the Left are especially in agreement on the Kosovo problem, the manner and pace of negotiations to be held with the Albanians and the referendum at which they plan to say the "historic NO" to the world.

"The Kosovo idyll" currently existing between the Left and the Radicals and their competition in demonstrating how much they care for the national interests and problems, will most probably last until one of the coalition partners steps out of the game. Dr. Srbobran Brankovic, a researcher of the Belgrade Agency "Medium", recently said that the agreement regarding Kosovo will last until some "new Dayton" is organized dedicated to the resolution of the fate of the Southern Serbian province. Then the Left will no longer need the Radicals' support for Kosovo and then, according to Dr.Brankovic, the present coalition unison might be easily replaced with conflicts. Same as it happened at the time of Dayton or introduction of blockade of the Bosnian Serbs on the Drina river.

However, those well-versed claim that the first skirmishes within the Government had already started irrespective of the existing agreement regarding the Kosovo problem. The first disagreements seem to have occurred already at the time the new ministers were being sworn in. The leader of the Radicals, Dr.Vojislav Seselj, demanded from his ministers to resign from all functions they held until that moment. He personally resigned from his post of the Zemun Lord Mayor. The new Minister of Information in Marjanovic's Cabinet, Aleksandar Vucic, resigned from his post of General Manager of the Sports-Business Center "Pinki" in Zemun, and Gordana Pop Lazic, Minister of Local-Government, also renounced all her functions in the once only radical stronghold - Zemun.

It seems that minister from the SPS and JUL ranks in the new Government were not impressed by this radical "setting of example" but continued with the practice from the preceding Marjanovic's Cabinet, which was known as a "Managerial Cabinet". Out of twenty high JUL and SPS officials in the Serbian Government, as much as seven are general managers and members of managing boards or representatives of important state institutions (eg. Prime Minister, Mirko Marjanovic, has retained his managerial seat in "Progres"). That much is known. As far as the number of private firms behind each new minister is concerned one can only guess, since most of these are registered in the name of their family members.

Seselj, who seems to want more than the kind of "racket" the Socialist are giving him by sharing the power with him, allegedly asked from his fellow colleagues from the SPS and JUL to give up all executive functions which they hold concurrently with ministerial posts. This apparently marked the beginning of conflicts in the new Government.

Judging by all, the mutual control of ministers will become even more intensive in the future. At its session held before Easter holidays, the Government of Serbia appointed Assistant Ministers, Secretaries of the Ministries, as well as other officials of state bodies and organizations. These posts were distributed so that in the future a SPS minister will have two deputies - one Radical and the other JUL member. And vice versa, a radical minister will be assisted by deputies from the Left. This major personnel reshuffling on account of which all hitherto assistant and deputy ministers were on the "waiting list" until it was clear what the Radicals were after, was primarily carried out because Seselj wanted direct control over all developments in the Government and around it. In any case, that was a part of the promise made to Seselj at the time he agreed to become a coalition partner of the Socialists. At the same time, this mutual control between coalition partners will be costly. Marjanovic's Cabinet of 36 members now has as much as some seventy assistant and deputy ministers (their names are soon to be published in the "Official Gazette"), which together with a large number of experts make an impressive administration. Some claim, even more impressive than the one in the service of the Chinese Government.

However, this is not the end of troubles of the Left with the ambitious Seselj. The worst is yet to come. When they joined the Government, the Radicals were promised places in management boards of public enterprises. The deadline by which these promises were supposed to be fulfilled is expiring these days. Seselj, who long ago realized that "while in opposition one spends one's own money and when in power one uses other people's money", now wants to get as much executive places in management boards of public enterprises as possible. Socialists who had a hard time "swallowing" Radicals as controllers in Ministries (objections started from the moment the Government was formed), will find it even harder to let them peek at business operation of public enterprises.

Allegedly, the leader of the Radicals made it known that his party "had its eye" on the place of the Chairman of Management Board of the Electric Power Industry of Serbia. It seems that he did not find the Post interesting because it was sold last year, but on the other hand will most certainly wage a battle for every post in the Oil Industry of Serbia, which is now under the JUL's control. Irrespective of the theory according to which the Socialist plan to share the power with the Radicals according to the principle "the authority to us and the responsibility to you", Seselj will not accept the leftovers. At that table of power he has already taken a nice seat and looks like someone who intends to eat with a large spoon from a bowl which until yesterday belonged exclusively to the Left.

The RTS Management Board might easily serve as an example of this as, in all likelihood, a rather long and hard (for Socialist) negotiations are ahead regarding its composition. Until now Milosevic allowed no one into the preserve in Takovska Street and that did not cross his mind even at times when it seemed that this institution might fall under the shower of eggs and stones thrown by the sympathizers of onetime coalition "Together". However, Seselj has lived to enter the RTS, where he was once admitted only as much as it suited the authorities, by inviting himself. It is clear both to him and the Socialists that the decisive battle for power will be waged between the present coalition partners over the TV screens. Apart from competing who "cares more for people's troubles", both Milosevic and Seselj are preoccupied with ways of increasing their electorate, primarily at the expense of the other side. That can be achieved only with greater presence on TV screens.

Therefore, individual analysts warn that the reason for possible conflicts between the Left and the Radicals might precisely lie in that "presence". The Socialists want Seselj on TV only within news on Government's activities, and not as the President of the Radicals. And Seselj, who finds his way around in any situation the electronic media might catch him in, does everything he can to appear on TV which is why in the talks regarding the distribution of RTS functions he will demand the control over the TV News. Several years ago, at the war times when Radicals and Socialists were in "love", several of his men even occasionally edited the main information programme, but faded out of the picture when that informal coalition broke up.

Apart from Milosevic, the SPO leader, Vuk Draskovic should be the one to worry most about the direct influence the Radicals might have on the development in the "TV Bastille". Although he had his eye on this house, in the end he had to be satisfied with the control over Studio B while at the same time doors on which Draskovic persistently knocked so many times, are now being opened to Seselj.

Since his party was left out of all combinations in the last moment, Draskovic was expected to finally turn his back on the Socialists and try to leave the impression that he was a true member of the opposition who flirted with the authorities for only a short while. Parliamentary debate on the referendum and numerous statements of the SPO officials which followed, but also the fact that some prominent members of this party are extensively travelling around the world, show that this party has, in all likelihood, decided to stick with the regime for a longer time. There are various theories going around regarding this. According to one, Draskovic expects the coalition between the Left and the Radicals to break up soon and doesn't want to be too far or to antagonize those who might ask for his cooperation tomorrow. According to yet another one, Draskovic and his party have been clearly "blackmailed". Allegedly, the Socialists told them that they will lose the power in Belgrade if they do not render their support to the referendum and their "strategy" regarding Kosovo.

"The boycotting opposition" which is re-launching its initiative for joining forces (and turning its eyes to Milo Djukanovic and his possible victory at the May elections in Montenegro) no longer considers Draskovic one of their kind. Draskovic himself claims that apart from him who has become closer with the regime, there are no democratic forces in Serbia. Only some "dwarfish non-parliamentary parties" who are again talking about joining forces for which they do not have enough strength, claims Draskovic obviously referring to Djindjic's DS and GSS of Vesna Pesic.

Nenad Stefanovic

(AIM)