Elections in Serbia

[Ivo Skoric]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/29/international/europe/29SERB.html?th

In the entire post-communist Europe there is a trend that people 
elect to power either former communists or rabid nationalists, 
causing violent swings in policies of those countries. This is a 
normal political process in which the political options will move 
closer to center with time.

The same is even more true for the ex-Yugoslav countries - which did 
not just emerge from communism, but also from a series of bloody 
wars. In Bosnia all three constituent peoples recently elected the 
nationalist representatives. However, none of them were involved in 
the war atrocities.

In Croatia just recently ex-nationalist right wing replaced the ex-
communist left wing in government. Both, however, already moved 
closer to the center, so I call them ex-nationalists and ex-
communists. That moving closer to the center is expectable and 
observable elsewhere in Eastern Europe as well.

Serbia, actually, is therefore an anomaly. There in the recent 
elections not one but four (4) people were elected that cannot take 
their offices, because they are at the Hague, indicted in the war 
crimes proceedings. The victorious political parties were those who 
espose politics of hatred and violent expansionism. Their leaders - 
Seselj and Milosevic - are suspects in crimes of genocide and crimes 
against humanity. It is as if the political options in Serbia not 
only do not move closer to the center, but they are moving even 
farther apart from it - unlike in most of the rest of post-communist 
Europe.

Following the murder of Serbia's prime minister Djindjic, Serbia 
seemingly lost its democratic face. With the new results, Serbia's 
president Kostunica, will have tougher time selling Serbia's image to 
the EU and to the world.

At the root of the problem is that Serbian citizens are not yet fully 
aware of what was done in their name under Milosevic and Seselj. The 
horror and shame, the guilt and defeat - nobody has the courage and 
honor to admit them to the people and steer them into the new 
millenium. Serbia, unfortunately, so far lacks politicians with 
stature of Germany's post-war Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt.

ivoIvo Skoric
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ivo at balkansnet.org
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