Monday, July 17, 2000

Nebojsa Covic, president of Democratic Alternative

We need genuine and honest unity

Nebojsa Covic

Nebojsa Covic was born on July 2, 1959 in Belgrade. He finished a mechanical engineering high school and then graduated from the Faculty of Machine Engineering in Belgrade where he also acquired a Master's degree. By the time you read this article, he will already have acquired a doctorate. He worked in REIL "Kolubara", "Lola Ribar" factory of machinery and spent seven years at the Faculty of Machinery as an assistant. He was then appointed general manager "Prolter", today known as FMP (Factory of Metal Products). He took his first step into politics by joining the Socialist Party of Serbia in 1991. In mid-1992 he was chosen to represent this party in Belgrade City Hall. He was soon appointed Vice-President of the Belgrade City Hall Executive Board for Industry and Finance. He was elected President of the Socialist Party City Board in September 1992, and in April 1993 he became the President of the Belgrade City Council. In July 1994 he is elected Mayor of Belgrade and remained in this position until the end of his mandate, February 4 1997. After disagreeing with the forgery of local elections in 1997, he departed from the Socialist Party on January 14 the same year. In July he founded the Democratic Alternative.

He received two mandates in the Serbian Parliament and was President of the Parliament Board of Finances. He was also received a mandate in Federal Parliament in 1996. He says that he never took advantage of his political activities to acquire financial gain. His only source of income is FMP, where he is still the President of the Executive Board. At one time he was also the President of the Basketball Association of Yugoslavia. He is married to Vesna and has two children, daughter Tijana and son Filip.

FS: For a while you were rather unsatisfied with the functioning of the united opposition. What is your opinion on this matter at the moment?

The functioning of the democratic opposition in Serbia has improved somewhat, however, I think that the rate of improvement and efficiency is still not satisfactory. The citizens of Serbia expect us to be faster and more efficient, to resolve all personal vanity and prejudices and achieve real and true unity, and not to look at percentages, quotas, but to create a democratic front that would win in the elections which should be a sort of referendum for and against Milosevic. Only after that, in the transitional period of six months to a year, should we create the atmosphere to hold real and first democratic elections by European and world standards.

FS: Do your meetings function better with or without the SPO?

I would not directly connect it to the SPO. As far as I am concerned, I have an open door for them and it is my opinion that another boding will take place. It is true that there have been a number of problems, tensions regarding the specific position of the SPO. This complexity has been decreased, but at the moment it seems as though certain parties are trying to take better positions, which in turn makes the operation of the unified opposition more complex. I think that the operation of the democratic opposition will be difficult and complicated as long as there is room for the marginalising of some and the boosting of others.

FS: In mid June you announced a new agreement of the unified opposition. What does this agreement include?

The agreement of the unified opposition in Serbia should be clearly defined regarding specifics of the joint participation not only in the local, but also the federal and, republic with clear rules regarding the candidacy of certain people. Also, the agreement must oblige the democratic opposition not to cooperate with the ruling threesome in the pre-electoral, electoral or post-electoral period, regardless of the results. The agreement must obligate the democratic opposition to schedule new elections after six months to a year, that in the event of victory all government bodies will be constructively established and that these bodies will not function in order to safeguard power, but to decrease and solve social, economic, political and all other problems in our region, because this is the most important factor in order to avoid compromising the idea of change. The agreement must also include or clear position regarding the Kosovo problem, and relations between Serbia and Montenegro: what we would do in the event of victory and how. It must all be completely transparent and clearly presented to the citizens of Serbia in order to avoid the media manipulation which the regime regularly uses. And in the end, the agreement must contain an article which would make the united opposition a strong factor and being this factor we demand development and further negotiations with the international community. This includes public agreements and contracts with the international community eliminating possible manipulations by the regime, and open talks concerning the problems of Kosovo, social problems, succession, war compensation, the Hague, and questions of economic cooperation. I do not mean aid, but cooperation with mutual interests. However, everything must be founded on preserving the Serb national and state identity.

FS: Do you have any problems while co-operating with other opposition leaders having in mind that you are a former member of the Socialist Party of Serbia?

I don't. While I was in the Socialist Party, this was a fact open to the public. I left this party the same way. Our political scene is very complex so, believe me, I have no reason to hide anything in my political career and the public has literally access to all information regarding my political life. On the other hand, I am not afraid of confronting any other politicians and discussing this particular topic to the last detail.

FS: You warned the public that President Milosevic will be very active during the summer. What kind of activities did you have in mind?

When I said that he will be active, I, of course, meant his machinery which is totally active now. They visit 20-30 settlements a day in Serbia. The atmosphere sparkles with reconstruction exploits, economic progress, the harvest was never better, nothing was ever better, we are blossoming. According to them, we have the highest standard in Europe, in the world even. This is backed with growing repression, confrontations with all political adversaries: the University, media, intellectuals, political parties, syndicates. So, they have opened one big front. They deny the opposition to express its own views by closing down independent media, but they also confront people who are active in field-work. You can't even organise a discussion or paste a poster, so opportunities for expressing a different point of view are very rare.

FS: There was a lot of talk these days about a peaceful descent of Slobodan Milosevic from power in return for political asylum and the chance to take his capital with him. Do you believe such a course of events possible?

My opinion is that there is a feeble chance for such an outcome, considering what I know about Milosevic. However, I don't rule out the possibility. Everything is possible, only I don't see who other than the Americans can give Milosevic such guarantees. As for his departure, as far as I'm concerned, he can leave right now and go wherever he wants to, only the capital, claimed by many to be his, is not his and this should be revealed to the public. On the other hand, if that is the price for his peaceful removal, I agree with the whole concept. He has already caused much damage, so I'm inclined to think in this manner. The important thing is that we do not suffer more damage from his rule. And we will recover if know how to organise ourselves, to use the resources our country has.

FS: The Anti-terrorist Act has been withdrawn because of "several useful suggestions", while changes to the Constitution have also been announced. What is your comment on these actions by the regime?

The Anti-terrorist Act issue is a direct blackmail by the Radical Party. Seselj wanted to take control of the judiciary system, he wanted the position of Minister of Justice for his party, since there is talk that Dragoljub Jankovic is header for a diplomatic mission, I think in Belarus. He also wants a number of other positions inside judiciary bodies, he asked for the adoption of his draft of the Bill on Public Enterprises and wants direct control of one three suggested companies - EPS (distribution of electric energy), NIS (petroleum industry) or Srbijasume (wood processing). So, we have a typical tradeoff situation here. It's not that Seselj is against this bill, but he probably also has in mind that it can be applied on him too, once it as adopted. My estimate is that 20% of his reluctance can be attributed to concern for his own safety, while 80% are the above mentioned interests. As for the Constitution, I guess they are working on the idea, but they don't have a ready scenario for its realisation. I would rather analyse the existing Constitution, since in article 85 the regime is left with the opportunity not to schedule elections when it is obliged to by constitutional regulations. All laws, starting from the Constitution as the supreme national law, are conceived in way that permits various interpretations of their content. Interpretation in the sense that, according to a certain law, you can be a legal and legislative body in the morning and then, after stepping on someone's toes, be declared guilty according to the same law. Whenever there is room for interpretations, a law can be politically abused.

FS: Could anything else have been done for the defence of Studio B?

Yes, a lot more and we had an agreement on how to do it. It was absurd to expect of the Serbian opposition to physically defend Studio B, at least in the first wave of assault, but it did not have to fall after 30 minutes, but rather a few hours and in that time broadcast programmes that would call for protection by the citizens of Belgrade. Whether the people would have succeeded in defending Studio B is another issue, but if 500-600 thousand people gathered to defend Studio B, I can't imagine anyone daring to attack it. This was not done and the result is a huge mess-up that might cost us a lot at the election. We are already paying the price.

FS: Will the regime try to take over another public enterprise after Studio B and GSP (public transport), and what do they stand to gain?

I think Belgrade Waterworks and City Waste Management are next and they force these services into a phase of total or almost total inactivity. This way they try to compromise the city or municipal authorities and when the situation deteriorates to a certain point, they take over and show how they solve all problems with the wave of a magic wand. They didn't take GSP over just before the start of summer holidays by accident, since the rush hour practically does not exist and less vehicles are required. This way the bought time in order to add another 100 or 200 vehicles, repaired or new, and create an image that they managed to solve a problem which local authorities failed to do. This is their media campaign.

FS: You "introduced" the 3% tax for Belgrade. The tax was revoked after the change of local authorities in 1997, then it was introduced again, and finally the state government blocked the assets produced by the tax so that the city authorities could not use them any more. Do you agree with the request made by Vreme magazine that the Belgrade Town Hall should under these circumstances abolish the tax?

As long as Belgrade is financed under the current system, experience proved that the tax is a necessity and a sensible resource of income for every capital city. So, this was not invented by some individual, but rather something that exists across the world that produced good results. When a politician acts, he is never completely sure whether his actions will have a positive or negative effect. The best judge for this is time. Four years have passed since the so-called "Covic's tax" has been introduced. The tax proved to be a necessity and the fact that local and state authorities have misused it during their confrontations just goes to show that the abuse of politics has gone too far, because confrontations of politicians over the backs of citizens is immoral and unacceptable.

FS: Can you compare the city budget from the time you were Mayor of Belgrade and today's budget?

I have all the data. From mid 1992 to January 31st 1997 the average monthly income to the budget of Belgrade was around 19 million DEM. In the following period the income rose to 29 million DEM. How these assets are used is beyond my knowledge. The only thing I do know is that the state authorities have blocked the 3% tax income after Vuk Draskovic dissociated from the Federal Government.

FS: Does FMP have problems because of your political activities?

It has huge difficulties all resulting from unconstitutional interventions. They are trying to limit our business, they obstruct or stop supplying and even pressurise customers to stop buying our products. We have managed to hold on up to now. We shall see, however, what the future holds. Earlier there was talk such as: "It's easy for them, Covic is the Mayor". Four years later I'm nothing of the sort and I'm still alive, while the factory is working.

FS: Do you reproach yourself for any of your actions during the last few years that you were active in politics?

Yes I do. For entering politics at all. But now it is obviously too late.

We'll review every response, and publish the best ones.