There's something powerful and moving in the images pouring out of wounded Serbia: Ordinary people pouring into a Parliament building ring...
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There8217;s something powerful and moving in the images pouring out of wounded Serbia: Ordinary people pouring into a Parliament building ringed with riot police who then just melt away into the crowds; angry men and women raising makeshift flags of freedom; early broadcasts from the 8220;new8221; Radio Television Serbia. The dismantling of a tyrant8217;s State apparatus is always a source of hope, especially a tyrant like Serbian President Slobadan Milosevic, whose 13-year rule has witnessed four costly wars and some of the most atavistic displays of blood-letting known to the modern world. It is not for nothing that the International Criminal Tribunal at the Hague has charged the man with war crimes and crimes against humanity, which include systematic and widespread ethnic cleansing and massacres in Kosovo and Bosnia.
Like most dictators Milosevic did not read his moment of reckoning. He could not, or chose not to, perceive the mood of his people. The verdict of the September 24 presidential elections had clearly gone against him; there was little doubt that Vojislav Kostunica, representing the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, a coalition representing 18 opposition groups, was the true winner. Yet, Milosevic decided to cheat him of the win. His electoral authorities ordered a second round of polling. It was this arrogance and the naked display of State power that provoked Serbians to take to the streets. Two weeks of public protests reached their climactic moment with the storming of the nation8217;s Capital on Thursday, with an estimated 300,000 people flooding the streets of Belgrade. As one Opposition leader put it so memorably, 8220;Today, in Belgrade, the people gave Serbia back to itself.8221;
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But winning Serbia for Serbia is going to be a journey down a long and unfamiliar road. For one thing, it would be premature to proclaim the end of the Milosevic regime until the man is either captured or gives himself up. Thirteen years in power is a long spell 8212; time enough to build a formidable support base, not just among the armed forces, but among those who have benefitted economically from the old order. This is why no one in Serbia is willing to write him off, despite swirling rumours about the man having fled the country with his family. It is Milosevic8217;s infinite capacity to do mischief that has prompted some human rights experts to even argue that it may be worth granting him immunity from prosecution for war crimes in exchange for a promise that he would quit power forever. The West clearly hopes to play a more proactive role in the region. Although the US president has conclusively ruled out the possibility of US military intervention, the prompt statements of support by western leaders areportents of a fresh engagement. The other big question is whether the new leaders in Belgrade will usher in a genuine democracy or replace the Milosevic brand of Serbian nationalism with one of their own? There are fears that Kostunica may find it politically expedient to stoke the same fires to survive. For the moment, though, the world seems to have rallied around him, with the EU promptly lifting sanctions against Serbia and the Russian foreign minister holding talks with him. As for Serbia8217;s future, the world can only hope that it turns out to be less traumatic than its past.
