POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: The General Turned Politician

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric-Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Sep 12 1999 (IPS) - In the midst of growing protests against the government, the Yugoslav opposition scene was unexpectedly reinforced this summer with the figure of Momcilo Perisic, who was the Army chief of staff until November last year.

Like many others coming from the official side of this country’s political line, his current political stand seems to have been nurtured by a long relationship with Yugoslavia’s president, Slobodan Milosevic.

It is yet unknown whether Perisic – who is presumed to have influence among army officers – will add coherence to an otherwise deeply divided opposition, or will indeed add to the current disarray.

Perisic joined a group of leaders who have tried to catalyse discontent and form a credible challenge to the ruling coalition of socialists, neocommunists and radical nationalists. The attempts have failed so far, as – at decisive junctures -strong personalities seem to prevail over the common cause.

In August gen Perisic (55) launched his Movement for a Democratic Serbia (PDS), facing strong criticism from his former comrades of arms and the state-controlled media.

Perisic joined the ranks of those who personally blame Milosevic for the economic woos of the country, and for the loss of Kosovo to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after 11 weeks of fierce bombing which left Serbia’s economy in ruins.

The former general claims to have resisted Milosevic’s policies on Kosovo, considering that the Yugoslav military were no match for the world’s most powerful military alliance. It was the reason for his dismissal, he says .

His main goal now is “removing the regime from power, by democratic means exclusively,” he says, and denies harbouring any personal ambitions behind his sudden jump into the political scene.

His movement is rather an umbrella organisation bringing together several parties, non governmental organisations, student bodies and other civic groups opposed to the government. It is not, he insisted, a political party.

Perisic’s PDS says Slobodan Milosevic’s regime “endangers the freedom and security of all people in Serbia…and denies the people the basic right to work and existence”.

Its founding declaration calls for reconciliation with neighbouring countries – the former Yugoslav republics – and for cooperation with the rest of the world.

“We want peace to be established in this country, without further catastrophic divisions within the nation, in order to prevent street fights and the threat of civil war” the statement adds.

The fear of civil war has been growing in Serbia for some time, especially after some top military figures said in public that their duty was to defend the government against possible attempts to change the government by force.

“The Yugoslav Army’s duty is to defend its supreme commander, the President, ” gen Nebojsa Pavkovic, commander of the Third Army, told the pro-government daily “Politika”, commenting on opposition rallies calling for the immediate ousting of Milosevic.

The key demand of rallies is Milosevic’s resignation, with opposition leaders carefully avoiding any calls to violence. However, they differ on whether there should be a transition process in cooperation with the ruling coalition, or a drastic change.

Most of all, they seem to disagree on who will be the movement’s leader, which was evident in the massive rally convoked in Belgrade last month, in which 150,000 people looked how their leaders did not talk to each other and delivered contradictory messages.

In case of uprisings, Perisic has told journalists, he believes the Army will refrain from using its weapons against its own people. “If anyone tries to use the Yugoslav army against its own people, he will succeed only in turning the army against himself” he warned.

He stressed that “many” officers were not “politically infected,” a peculiar remark from an officer whose professional life developed for the most part in an army openly linked to the ruling Communist party and whose declared duty was to defend a socialist state.

Perisic’s reappearance in public this summer, for the first time after his removal in November, caused turmoil among his former colleagues.

The general broke his silence in July with an interview to the NIN weekly magazine, stating that the Army has allowed itself to be drawn into politics as “now the military leadership has been turned into a party cell of the SPS and JUL (Socialist party and the Yugoslav Left Union)”.

JUL in particular, by means of “usurpation, blackmail and fear, has penetrated into all institutions, the Army included, but only after my dismissal,” he said.

Perisic’s replacement, general Dragoljub Ojdanic, is known to be close to JUL, led by Milosevic’s wife, Mira Markovic.

In the interview, Perisic criticised Milosevic’s policies on Kosovo, saying it that the outcome of the war was “in some elements worse than a capitulation.” The leadership, he said, “pushed the people forward to sacrifice, while they themselves remained safe, made personal profit from the people’s sacrifice and became even more arrogant.”

He described as “fatal” the leadership’s decision to confront NATO, against his advice, but he did not elaborate on his proposed alternatives to the NATO ultimatum demanding free military passage over the Yugoslav territory and a referendum on independence to be held in Kosovo.

Perisic is the second former general to found a political organisation in Serbia. The first was gen Vuk Obradovic, former Army spokesman, who established the Social Democratic party, which is now a member of the opposition coalition Alliance for Changes.

The official media has assailed Perisic. The Serbian state TV called him the “American general”, while Dragan Tomic, spokesman of Serbian parliament said Perisic “should be ashamed” of “saying what suits (Bill) Clinton and (Tony) Blair” – US president and British prime minister respectively.

“The Army involvement in politics could have fatal consequences” says Stipe Sikavica, a military expert. “Such an involvement at this moment is more than visible…Generals from top echelons attack the opposition using the same vocabulary as the ruling parties. Uniform and the politics definitely do not go together…it’s either one or the other.”

Slobodan Vucetic, a judge with the Serbian Supreme Courts says says the Army’s involvement in politics would be unconstitutional.

“The statements by top generals amount to threats to the people. The Constitution is clear about one thing: the army is here to protect the country’s sovereignty, territorial independence and constitutional order. The army is responsible for the state, not the regime,” he says.