Editor’s note: Aleksandar Pavic has been on the scene in Belgrade
reporting for WND on last Sunday’s historic Yugoslav election and its
chaotic and historic aftermath.
By Aleksandar Pavic
© 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — “You don’t need a weatherman to know which
way the wind blows” is a line that literally became true in Serbia
yesterday, after state meteorologists announced they would stop giving
weather forecasts in protest over the Federal Election Commission’s
ballot count and its scheduling of a presidential runoff race.
“Since we feel that during the last presidential election our will
and the will of the people were not acknowledged, we have decided to
express our disagreement through civil disobedience, which we will
demonstrate by not giving weather forecasts.” Among all the mass
protests that have rapidly spread throughout Serbia, all the strikes
that have started in factories, schools, universities, shops, public
transportation systems, mines, radio and television stations, this voice
seemed to be the most symbolic.
The spontaneity of Serbia’s “quiet revolution,” as the
yet-unconfirmed president-elect Vojislav Kostunica has termed it, is
evidence of something tangible in the air, which can be felt and need
not be explained.
“I have always said that there are certain political situations in
which parties and leaders do not lead the people, but the people in many
ways lead them, and this is one of those situations,” said Kostunica
yesterday as he embarked on a nationwide tour to thank the voters and
encourage the strikers and demonstrators to persevere in their demands
for the recognition of the election results or an independent
verification of the ballot count.
It was precisely this sort of unfeigned modesty, combined with strong
personal integrity and a firm stance on national issues that made
Kostunica a candidate of such broad appeal and the only one capable of
leading a united Serbian opposition to an election victory over Slobodan
Milosevic and his regime.
This was indirectly confirmed in Milosevic’s speech to the nation
earlier in the day. Despite the litany of accusations he launched
against the opposition — that they were financed by foreign money in
the name of foreign interests, that they sought the final dismemberment
of Serbia, and so on — he did not attack Kostunica, his direct opponent
in the presidential race. Instead, the best he could muster was an
attack on Zoran Djindjic, president of the Democratic Party and manager
of the opposition’s campaign. It was Djindjic, Milosevic charged, who
stood behind the united opposition, as a direct exponent of the NATO
countries that engaged in last year’s brutal bombing of Yugoslavia.
And that has been Milosevic’s main problem in this election period —
he hasn’t been able to pin a label on Kostunica, hasn’t been able to
make a credible attack against him. The reason: Kostunica has criticized
both Milosevic and NATO with equal harshness. Having previously lost the
majority-Serb areas of Croatia, having been associated with the
unfavorable terms imposed on the Bosnian Serbs by the Dayton Peace
Agreement, and having lost Kosovo in all but name, in facing Kostunica,
Milosevic also lost the high ground of patriotic rhetoric. Try as he
might, Milosevic could not convincingly portray the election as a choice
between fidelity to nation and “treason.”
And in the end, this was what contributed to a weakening within his
own ranks. Zvonimir Trajkovic, a former long-time Milosevic aide, has
said that only sabotage from within could have prevented another rigged
election win.
“Believe me, had his organization been tight, they would have stolen
the elections without the opposition ever finding out about it. I know
how such things are done,” said Trajkovic. In his view, there were two
other factors that contributed to the regime’s election catastrophe: the
fact that Milosevic let his wife, a hard-line Marxist professor, run the
campaign, and the strong dissatisfaction of the party rank-and-file with
the rise of a new financial oligarchy within the regime.
However, the loss of credibility seems to be the handicap that
Milosevic won’t be able to overcome. While he may yet get the temporary
support of the highest army and police officers that owe their rise
directly to him, he no longer has the charisma to pump up the ordinary
soldiers or policemen. He has betrayed them too many times already, has
lost too much territory, and can offer no convincing prospects for a
better future.
So the unusually strong wind that is blowing through Belgrade during
the past several days, the seasonal koshava, does not simply mark the
coming of autumn to Serbia. It is a wind of change and no politician’s
words or actions on either side of the fence seem to be able to change
that. The difference is that some of them realize it, while others don’t
and continue to wage an unwinnable battle. As a student at a recent
demonstration said, “He’s already gone, it’s just that he doesn’t know
it yet.”
Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Pozarevac,
Vranje, Kragujevac, Novi Sad and other Serbian cities last night, while
more extensive protests, strikes and roadblocks are announced for today.
Related stories:
Church leader congratulates Kostunica
Aleksandar Pavic served as chief political adviser to the president of Republika Srpska, the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina and as an adviser to the late Prince Tomislav Karageorgevitch of Yugoslavia. Pavic is currently translating Prince Tomislav’s memoirs into English.
