Yugasla.la:fa
Ccenciuais:onxreu ia latei one of Ihe bvehen in recent Yugoslav history bet offeree!
ethnic, andmall Hep toward checking tbe Be* of power to the eight dornnafll regional elites by giving some ne-autborrty to Ihe party center aade-democratic trappingi. It ulaorop of new. younger leaden, who may be morealso moreIheir Tito-era elders. The congress reaffirmed Delgrade's nonallgncd foreign policy andew barhi al tbe United Slates. Moscow's participation was correctbutshowed that Gorbachev has other priorities fM WW*
Doraettic Isnaas
Like tbe hast congresshe agenda of tbe Die Yugoslav Party Congress, head in Belgrade onJune, was orcrshadowed by thaetioes ccoaotaic problems la the main congress speech, outgoing party chief Videysandidly -admitted ibeackluster performance ia cornag with heavy foreign debts, rampant inflation, falling living standards, widespread joblessness,rowing gapicher north and poorer south. Bui he offered few solutions beyond removing regional obstructions io canylng out set policy. Premier Branko Mikulk. speakingommission session, had even harsher words aboul Haunting decisions and urged support for new government proposals now before parliamentoposals garrsered support from same delegates, but ihe congress took no official standi
jgaBaaj,
The cccapeas was spared disruptions but nut faseveral increasingly vocal public pressere groups Shortly before Ike conclave opened, security forces ia Kosovo Province dispersed hundreds of ethnic Serbs who were preparing lo march on Belgrade lo protest discrimination by ethnic Albanians. Western presi reports said the authorities
curtailed public irartni between Kosovo and Belgrade daring thesove that probabty did IKilconusta Ibe regane's Vmsi* of eewowesa Banana
Nonetheless. Kosovo awl other cooten;>ows issues surfaced from thc congress floor wiibvcageanccin most Communist countries. Several delegates ga'c impetus lo the country's burgeoning antinuclcar movement, speaking igainslfar stilt on hold -to proceed with several new pUni> And some military offrciali warned of growing pacifism among youib ia ihe northern Republic of Slovenia
IntiMuliunal Ctuvssges
Perhaps more significant than thc rbesoric were some stalutory and procadBral changes made at the congress aad at scene of Ue cagbt regional congresses leading uphe congressevised party statott kniendcd to give tbe partyew rrtorc loots to deal with recalcitraat regional bosses It reportedly strengthened the Leninist principle of democratic centralism, ihe linchpin of Lnirsperty discipline Ii also reportedly gave the Central Committee the right to monitor more closely the regional Centrsl Committees and call special regional party congresses when major national decisions arc defied mttW
Election procedures also were altered at thc esprnsc of regional brokers, le the regional congresses, ccenpctitivt multipled lies elections--optional under both the old aed newapplied snore widely than al any Istnc since ihe liberaliiatson era of ihe, in some cases eeenrjucaiiag tha plans of party bosses And at the nationaltatutory change gave thc delegates tbe right, for the first time in two decades, to reject Ihe regions' choices for key national posts. While Ihe delegates ended up
utt (wiimH
he regions'allies varied well-known figure* faring
more pragmatic andalso more tied to parochial regionalibeir
Baail
One of ihe more pronounced effects of ihemove* The mean age ofmember Central Committeemember Presidium drooped by nearlyean ro abouteaeeciively. thus eclipsing the claaa of leaden from Tito's partisan gencrallon. In their placeiverse new group that appears to be better educated.
Age faciois aside, the background* aad repetitions of many of the newly elected leaders suggest that factional Infighting probably will increase on several key issnea:
Interrtfional economic rrlalions Disputes are likdy to sharpen over allocating scaice resourcese diverse legions. Several of ihe moreenders have retired, and many of the newIhe new tiular party head
Pony Flint
a3
Milinfcc- Renown, of Bosnia.ekov Lturoski, Serbia'*Chrrbie>rsveendbotsouilt their careers OB defending local interests.
Freedom of expression. The member* will probably be tharply divided ocr the limiu oa freedom of uprcssion and ibehe new Prend urn includes outspoken opponents of literal doncnl such aiad Ivses Raeen. Bosnia's Ivan BHgic, and Vojvodina's Benbo Krunic Facing them will be such probable moderate) ai ihe six Serbian and Slovene delegate*haggy young. US educated Macedonian. VaaU Tupurhovskl.
Umrkft fotxts. Dilfereacet wH probably aho surface over the introduction of more market force) in tbe country') unorthodox Communist economy. The Ideologue) and tradilionaliit) will probably favor heavy use of admlniuislive meniure. -such ai wage and pricehile sever al prig ma lists are likely io ace aaarket forcea as itial lot
Th* Sfrbta problem Strains between Serbia and its autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvedlna over distributing ant hotn the republic may also racrcaae becaesc several more tncderate rcprcaeeuiives from these regions hare been
by staunch idvocaio of local interests
Foreign I
The congress reaffirmed Belgrade's traditional aenuOigned fore.gr peercy la advanceonaligned Summit this August aad tu iatercst in bnianctag its pouiicm between ibe United States and thc USSR. From ihe US standpoint, the congress') foreign policy resolutionisappointingly equivocal stand onpressures on alleged sprnssors of iraTorlsm as svefl as attcmpu to equate liberation mo.erner.is with terror amIron,ore positive comment,ugoslav cencial to US diplomats, the resolution probably was altered after the US bombing of Libya Party chief 7nrkovic alsowipe at the US Administration for statements on the SALT II accord. icRecibx Belgrade's
inr-ieasuigly skeptical comment on US arms control policy And several trw-ire-*tensionsnd Greece over longstanding ethnic disputes. vaMaaaT
Moscowull Polilburo member. Geydar Aliyev. to the cemgress. Thisormal upgrading In reprenniat-on from the last cominsi but il Mill below ihe kml of Soviet representation at Ihe recent gatherings ia East Cwrnany.oland snd does notitter on the Poleiburo. Most of Moscow's East European allies sent the equivalent ofut members. The Soviel paity greetings to the congress took fewer pains thano endorse Yugoslav principles governing -clanoai among sovereign slat
Outlook
The statutorythe result of an under standing between southern centralists and northernal least ihe legal groundworkodal revival of cenusl authority. The leadership may fsed thrs light perticaUriy useful if it feels the need to intervene in such regions si Koucvo andtem growing rationalism Bui implementation, as always, will depend on the will and Uaue-oriented alignments of the regionalnd the incoming national leadershipt least as divided as the previous one. The crseruncats with competitive elections will probeWy coot-nue. albeit haphazardly, and mayartial step toward renewal of some of the more stultified regional
The relatively tsarmcaisoui airnosphere at the congress suggests that the party is becorniag itscreaslaglr tokraat of divergent views. Tbes con train with the highly charged atmosphere of less than two years ago. when some debates over reforming the system giew so sharp as to seem to call into question the very ability of the countryold together. In this seme, the party ii becoming more sndirror of the reel, eeanpetiag iBteresJ groups ia one oforld's meat frngrncnud wfcseiies.arties also showed rcsiramt but aired their respective positions at cich of thcii cungres*eg TfgfgafJh
Original document.
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: