------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- SERBIAN ELECTION: NO SURPRISES By John Catalinotto The Dec. 23 Serb elections brought no surprises. The former- opposition and now-ruling coalition Democratic Opposition of Serbia, which controls both the national and the private media, got 64 percent of the votes. The Socialist Party of Serbia, led by Slobodan Milosevic, got 13.5 percent. Two Serb nationalist anti-NATO parties got a little over 13 percent between them. No other parties won the 5 percent needed to get representatives in the 250-seat parliament. With 176 seats the DOS has more than the two-thirds needed to control the government. The politician Zoran Djindjic, who many consider a U.S.-German puppet, has been named the new Serbian prime minister. The SPS won 37 seats, as did the two Serb nationalist parties combined. Like the Sept. 28 election when Milosevic lost the presidency and the Oct. 5 right-wing coup that burned the Parliament and State Television buildings, this latest election is being celebrated in Washington, in NATO headquarters and in the capitals of the other European imperialist powers. These forces had used threats, sanctions and actual bombings to push out the Socialist Party government before they manipulated the elections, as they themselves admitted. (Washington Post, Dec. 11) A Dec. 21 interview by the Berlin daily newspaper Junge Welt with one of the SPS leaders, Alexandar Rastovic, showed why the results were no great surprise. "Our activists have been working in an atmosphere of intimidation," said Rastovic. "If we were to hold on to 15 to 20 percent of the vote under these abnormal conditions, as I expect, that would be a success. ... The forces now ruling only concede 5 to 7 percent to us." WHY DID THEY VOTE AGAINST MILOSEVIC? A correspondent for the Belgian weekly Solidaire, Michel Collon, interviewed some people in Serbia to get their view of the elections: For Andrej, the elections have been distorted since September by threats of a new NATO bombing attack or invasion of Montenegro. And by the hundreds of million of dollars from the United States to finance a very effective propaganda campaign to criminalize Milosevic in the eyes of the Serbs. On top of this, the main media outlets have been strictly controlled. Gordana agreed: "The people know that the SPS was more 'social' [aware of the needs of the poor and workers] than the DOS but also that the West would continue to strangle them as long as Milosevic remained in power. Four wars, isolation, demonization, the embargo: Serb politics were made neither in the streets, nor in Parliament, but in foreign countries." Tanja added, "However, the SPS limited its losses in light of the circumstances and two splits that weakened it." Bata, who opposed NATO, was resign ed: "Serbia is part of Europe and has to accommodate to the way of the majority." According to Natasha, who favored the DOS, "The bad economic situation explains why the majority of his supporters turned their backs on Milosevic. The people have seen too much corruption, and the 'newly rich' directing the country. They were disgusted by it." The discussion Collon reported supported the basic truth that war-weariness and a hope that a new government would get NATO and the U.S. off their backs were the main causes for the SPS setback. Even more, that aid and investment from the West would restart the Yugoslav economy. So far all the West has promised are loans that will have to be repaid out of the sweat and blood of the Yugoslav workers. 'SHOCK THERAPY'? The DOS's economic advisers have been promising "shock therapy." This means massive privatizations right away and quick price rises on basic necessities. Prices on basic goods have already doubled and tripled since last September's election. Moves to lay off workers are expected soon. For example, 90 percent of the workers of the Zastava automobile factory face layoffs from the new owner, Peugeot, a French-based auto manufacturer. The first act of the new government was to order electricity shutdowns for 12 and 16 hours a day. It is unable to keep up the power supply that the SPS government had kept going throughout the war and sanctions. Despite the "shock therapy" slogan, future Prime Minister Djindjic has announced that the privatization could take two years. He knows that it will run into opposition from the majority of the population. President Vojislav Kostunica--an open rival of Djindjic and much more popular--is also afraid to cut jobs and workers' salaries too quickly as prices continue to rise. WHAT NEXT? The new government--a coalition of 18 parties who were united only in their opposition to the SPS and Milosevic and their willingness to accept help from NATO countries--now has the complete responsibility before the population for its program for Yugoslavia. Will it hold Montenegro in the federation with Serbia? Will it be able to defend southern Serbia from attacks by the KLA forces? Will it be able to keep contact with the few majority-Serb areas of Kosovo? Most important, will the Serbian economy develop because of its contacts with the imperialist West? Or will it be like most of Eastern Europe where the most profitable factories are sold dirt-cheap to imperialist corporations and the rest shut down? The biggest danger for the Yugoslav left comes from a threat that the new regime will make a mockery of the "democratic" part of its name and launch a wave of repression, something that SPS spokesperson Rastovic warned of in his Junge Welt interview. Already there has been a purge of military officers and threats to put Milosevic and other SPS leaders on trial. - END - (Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
