8th Session of the Serbian Communist Party
Encyclopedia : 8 : 8T : 8TH : 8th Session of the Serbian Communist Party
8th Session of the Serbian Communist Party took place on 22 September 1987. This session proved to be turning point in Serbian politics as it marked the rise of Slobodan Milošević as key force in Serbian politics.
Background
8th Session of the Serbian Communist Party took place in a backdrop of rising ethnic tensions between Albanian and Serb community in Kosovo and also a general anti-Albanian feeling in Serbia. Ivan Stambolic, the then President of Serbia and whose support an year earlier had helped Milošević become the chief of Serbian Communist Party, was turning more and more opposed to Milošević after his policy toward Kosovo which demanded of rapid action instead of reaching a consensus with slow and patient negotiations with the Albanian leaders which Stambolic and his ally Dragiša Pavlović, leader of the Belgrade Communist Party supported. Stambolic was also unimpressed by Milošević's handling of crowd in Kosovo, when he used the famous phrase "No one shall beat you again" and also displayed open support for the Kosovo Serbs, all against the party policy. This situation coupled up Milošević's grudge against Pavlović who highly disapproved of the Milošević camp, and who had been appointed as the leader of the Belgrade Communist Party by Stambolic against the wishes of Milošević ensured that the stage was set for a showdown between the two.Preceding days to the session
Milošević handling of Kosovo situation had split the Serbian Communist Party into two groups. One was the pro-Pavlović/Stambolic group who were in favour of peaceful negotiations with the Albanian leaders and the pro Milošević group which demanded quick and rapid action to end the "Kosovo problem". Pavlović made comments which eventhough did not directly point a finger at Milošević, but were clearly directed at Milošević accusing him of being anti-Albanian, nationalist and offering fake solutions to the Kosovo situation. These remarks were seen as an attack on Milošević by the Milošević camp. Milošević with his senior allies planned to throw Pavlović from the Communist party, but Pavlović was staunchly supported by Stambolic, a very influential leader. Pavlović's expulsion from the party would effectively mean toppling Stambolic. Stambolic dispatched a written letter to Pavlović asking the members of Belgrade Communist Party to stay out of it if the question was raised about Pavlović. This was a huge mistake as later this letter would cost Stambolic dearly. Also this letter raised many eyebrows among the Belgrade Party itself who thought of this letter as unnecessary pressure by Stambolic. Milošević's supporters among the members of the Belgrade Communist Party led by Duŝan Mitevic were particularly angry at this.On 18th September the Presidency of the Serbian Communist Party met, Stambolic tried hard to make a compromise between the two groups, but now Milošević officially turned against Stambolic by calling Pavlović a threat to "ideological unity". But Milošević did not have any forces at that moment to outmanoeuvre Stambolic. He was bailed out of this situation by Dusan Mitevic, Mitevic along with some members of the Belgrade Communist Party drafted a letter to Milošević saying that the Belgrade Party committee had been pressurized by Stambolic into supporting, they also sent Milošević the original letter by Stambolic. Next day in front of about fifty people of the Communist Party, Milošević read the letter aloud. Members among the party, even who were opposed to Milošević were shocked at this revelation, eventhough plots were not uncommon among the the party but in this case Milošević had a written letter which he claimed was the proof of Stambolic putting personal interests ahead of those of the party. Stambolic felt betrayed by the same man who was once his best friend and whose rise to the top in the Serbian Communist Party he had engineered.
The day on the session
Milošević decided to broadcast the session live on television. Now it was an all or nothing game for Milošević, if the session went the way he wanted it to go, he would be successfully in expelling Pavlović and toppling Stambolic, leaving himself in command, but if he failed it would be an end to his career as Stambolic and his allies would crush Milošević and his allies. Milošević started with accusing Pavlović for being against the principles of the party and those of Yugoslavia and a threat to party unity. Then Milošević's allies accused Stambolic for acting like a dictator by trying to shut up the Belgrade Communist Party. Stambolic's letter had lost him and Pavlović support among even those who were before not allied with Milošević. Stambolic replied by saying Milošević was the one breaking unity. But by this time prearranged telegrams had started flocking in from the provinces and the Kosovo Serbs. Vote was called. Milošević won, Pavlović was expelled from the party.Aftermath
The session ending with Milošević coming out stronger than ever and Pavlović expelled from the party. Pavlović left politics. Stambolic was publically humiliated and weakened, even his allies lost their influence, he was obliged to resign from the post of president of Serbia which he did.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.