Sunday, August 22, 1999

Serbian Renewal Movement

www.spo.org.yu

Vuk Drašković, president of the party foto: FreeSerbia

The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) is the biggest and best organized opposition party in Serbia. It was founded after the Serbian People's Renewal (SNO) - formerly known as the "Sava" society - split apart. At that time its leaders were Mirko Jovic, a waiter from Pazova, Vojislav Seselj, a lawyer and dissident from Sarajevo and Vuk Draskovic, a writer of nationalistic bestsellers, originally from Hercegovina. The SNO fell apart into three factions, of which the SPO took over the biggest portion of members. It also won a lot of new members thanks to the tireless efforts of Draskovic, who charmed the masses with his charismatic and energetic anti-communist speeches.

In 1990, Dusko Mihajlovic, at the time vice-president of the Serbian government, persuaded the SPO to go to elections under dubious terms and without a change of the unreformed constitution. Under the majority electoral system, the SPO got 800,000 votes but won only 19 seats out 250. Still, it became the strongest opposition party in Serbian parliament.

Later, the SPO became obsessed with unifying all opposition parties under Draskovic's leadership. He also played up the myths of the Chetniks, the royalist guerrillas in World War II, and the cult of their leader Draza Mihajlovic. Draskovic glorified the monarchy and invited Crown Prince Alexander II to Belgrade on several occasions. But unifying of opposition ended three times with variable success.

In 1992, the Democratic Movement of Serbia (DEPOS) won the battle for proportional electoral system. The DEPOS got 700,000 votes and won about 50 seats in the parliament. In 1993, the "DEPOS II" again won almost the same number of votes and seats, but the New Democracy, which was inside the DEPOS, gave its 6 seats to the new coalition government.

In 1996, Coalition "Zajedno" was formed for federal and local elections. "Zajedno" got almost a million votes, but, in proportional electoral system with big number of electoral units, "Zajedno" lost. Nevertheless, two-round majority electoral system on local elections made "Zajedno" victory enormous in cities. The regime abolished this victory and long-lasted demonstrations forced Milosevic to admit his first defeat ever.

Beside those rallies, Vuk Draskovic was a leader of all previous rallies against the ruling regime. During clashes with police, on 9th of March in 1991, he was arrested. "Vidovdan" gathering in 1992 brings early elections. In June 1993, after spontaneous riots in front of the building of the Federal parliament, he spends many days in prison and hospital.

In 1997, finally, the SPO went on elections all alone and got 850,000 votes which gave them again 45 seats. Anyway, in 1999, together with three ministers, Vuk Draskovic stepped into the federal government that Montenegro doesn't recognize. By this move, Vuk Draskovic finally left opposition, though this game lasted for couple of years before: ousting Zoran Djindjic from the position of Belgrade's mayor and SPO-SPS so-called "forced administration" in central Belgrade's municipality before 1996. In the time of the war with NATO, Vuk Draskovic was expelled from the federal government because of rift with Milosevic about running the war. He is slowly sailing into the opposition again, although many people don't believe it much.

On state TV, Vuk Draskovic was showed in black light every time he was in true opposition, often with claims of irresponsibility in leading the party and turns of the SPO policies all the time. Most of it is true, anyhow. For example, in 1990, he said that he will "cut Moslem arms, if there is single green flag in Sandzak", but several years after he stood against bombing of Sarajevo and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. At the end, in 1998, he introduced hate-speech against Albanians ("Shiptar gangs", "wild tribes from northern Albania", "Albanian Nazism").

Relation with Milosevic is another example. In June 1993, Vuk and Danica Draskovic were arrested, beaten to death and sentenced, but at the end abolished on demand of French president, Francois Miterand. After that, at the end of the same year, Milosevic became "charming man, full of understanding" to Draskovic. This love came true with stepping of the New Democracy into the government in the beginning of 1994. In 1995, the SPO almost negotiated its own participation in the government. In 1996, the SPO is again in true opposition, and in 1997, it goes to the elections again without equal conditions, in-spite of all other opposition boycott.

Trivia

The SPO's turning of policies sometimes are shown in grotesque and humorous light. Vuk's wife, Danica, by many real boss of the SPO, in several occasions scandalized the public. In-spite of the fact that the SPO had paramilitary units in war in Croatia ("Serbian Guard"), Danica Draskovic, only few years later, during war in Bosnia, made a statement in one popular talk-show on TV: "My husband is against war in Bosnia. But if he has to go in the war, he would be on the side of Bosnian Moslems."