Zoran Đinđić
Zoran Đinđić Зоран Ђинђић | |
|---|---|
| File:Zoran Djindjic.jpg | |
| 5th Prime Minister of Serbia (2001 - 2003) | |
| In office January 25, 2001 – March 12, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Mirko Marjanović |
| Succeeded by | Zoran Živković |
| 67th Mayor of Belgrade | |
| In office February 21, 1997 – September 30, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Nebojša Čović |
| Succeeded by | Vojislav Mihailović |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 1, 1952 Bosanski Šamac, Yugoslavia |
| Died | March 12, 2003 (aged 50) Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Ružica Đinđić |
| Signature |  |
Zoran Đinđić, Ph.D. ⓘ (often Zoran Djindjić, from Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Ђинђић, IPA: [/ˈzorɑn ˈdʑɪndʑɪtɕ/]) (1 August, 1952 – 12 March, 2003) was a Serbian prime minister, mayor of Belgrade, long-time opposition politician and a philosopher by profession.
Early life and education
Đinđić was born in Bosanski Šamac, a town on the Sava river in the region of northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, then Yugoslavia. He completed his secondary education in the IX gymnasium in Belgrade, where his father Dragomir was sent as an officer in the Yugoslavian army. His mother Mila was a homemaker. Đinđić had one older sister — Gordana. Đinđić took an interest in politics as a student of philosophy at the University of Belgrade.
He continued his studies in Germany under professor Jürgen Habermas in Frankfurt. Đinđić went to Germany after being attacked by the communist regime and media for trying to organize an independent political movement of Yugoslav students. In 1979 Đinđić obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Konstanz. He spoke German fluently. His ability in English was at a moderate level, so he took English classes every day while he was Serbian prime-minister.
Political career
In 1989 Đinđić returned to Yugoslavia to take a teaching post at Novi Sad University, and together with other Serb dissidents he founded the liberal Democratic Party. He became Chairman of the Executive Board of the party in 1990, and was elected to the Parliament of Serbia in the same year. In 1993 he replaced Dragoljub Micunovic as President of the Democratic Party.
In the 1990-91 period, Đinđić openly supported creating a separate Serbian army and abandoning the Yugoslav People's Army. Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, during the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, testified that...
In the summer of 1991, the Serbian Renewal Movement (Vuk Draskovic) and another party intensively advocated the formation of a Serbian army. I had a political debate on television with Zoran Djindjic, and we clashed about this point precisely because he was advocating the formation of a Serbian army. I opposed this, and I won in this debate. I supported the JNA as the only regular armed force.[1]
He was a close ally to Radovan Karadzic, leader of the Serbian Democratic Party in Republika Srpska, famously roasting an ox with him in Pale. As such, he opposed the Dayton Agreement ending the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
In Serbia itself, according to Vojislav Seselj, "Arkan on the Serbian political arena had close contacts only with Zoran Djindjic."[2] As for Arkan's right hand man Ljubiša Savić alias Mauzer, "Mauzer was Djindjic's vice-president and the president of the party for Republika Srpska, and Djindjic took part in his pre-electoral campaign." Mauzer became chief of Republika Srpska police, was dismissed for torturing suspects, and was later the victim of a gangland killing.
After a massive series of public protests over elections annulled by the central government under Slobodan Milošević during the winter 1996/97, Đinđić became Mayor of Belgrade, the first non-communist mayor to hold that post after the Second World War. United only by their political enemy, the coalition "Zajedno" (Together) with Vuk Drašković's SPO and Vesna Pešić's GSS collapsed only four months after their victory. Đinđić was voted out of his position as Belgrade mayor by the SPO, SPS and SRS.
Đinđić and his party boycotted the 1997 Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections, as did others in the "democratic bloc" including Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia. This caused the Socialists and Radicals to sweep most of the seats, leaving the third largest portion to Vuk Draskovic's SPO. The boycott helped sabotage the first presidential election, forcing a second set of elections when round two was ruled to have had insufficient turnout. Serbian law at the time mandated at least 50% turnout for a president to be elected. In this case, Vojislav Seselj won the second round against the Socialists' Zoran Lilic; when the election was re-done, Seselj lost to the Socialists' Milan Milutinovic with turnout ruled to be slightly more than required by law.
This caused Seselj to allege electoral fraud and lead protests against the government. He changed his mind however when the Kosovo crisis began in early 1998, and his Radicals joined the government as a coalition partner. When Vuk Draskovic joined the Yugoslav government in early 1999, this left Đinđić as Serbia's main opposition leader as Nato's war began against Yugoslavia.
After former secret policeman, anti-regime publisher and journalist Slavko Ćuruvija was murdered on Orthodox Easter during NATO bombings attacking Serbia, Đinđić sought safety and fled to temporary exile in Montenegro, allegedly because Zeljko Raznjatovic, aka Arkan, told him that he was next on the assassination list of then-President Slobodan Milošević's secret service. In September 1999, Đinđić was named by Time magazine as one of the most important politicians at the beginning of the 21st century.
Photos of his handshake with Clinton at time of the bombings have been used to portray him as a traitor, as well as by the opposition to show his and accordingly Belgrade's possible international recognition. Upon his return to the country in July 1999, Đinđić was charged with endangering state security in a trial that was closed to the public and subsequently said to be rigged.
| The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Đinđić continued to plot with the American government to overthrow the Serbian and Yugoslav governments, taking money from it and from its front groups and became the point man for "regime change" efforts.[citation needed] Meanwhile, mysterious assassinations in Serbia took place amid speculation that Đinđić was working with organised criminal elements.[citation needed] For instance, when Zeljko Raznjatovic, aka Arkan, was assassinated in early 2000, rumours had this linked to Đinđić's attempts to recruit him to the regime change cause. [3] [4] An alliance of this kind by Đinđić with such elements has been credited with the successful regime change that happened later that year.[5] This regime change included forced resignations at gunpoint by his paramilitaries.[6], the usurping of powers in contravention of the constitution and a coup d'etat against the Serbian government itself, which had not been in play in the September 2000 Yugoslav presidential and parliamentary elections.
| The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
The mysterious assassinations included the shooting of Yugoslav Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic on 7 February 2000 in a restaurant. Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj maintained during his testimony at the Slobodan Milosevic trial that this murder was carried as a prelude to the successful hijacking of the Montenegrin People's Party in October 2000 by Predrag Bulatovic, who successfully reversed the parliamentary majority won by Milosevic and his allies, moving his party in alliance with Đinđić's Democratic Opposition of Serbia. In April, JAT chairman and Yugoslav United Left member Zika Petrovic was gunned down as he was walking his dog. [7]In late August, former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic disappeared; he had been murdered on Fruska Gora by men who were to help Đinđić take power that October. Đinđić and his allies successfully had Milosevic blamed for these happenings either by claiming that he ordered these events, or, by claiming that as Milosevic could not prevent them, he no longer had control and should therefore be forced from power.
Đinđić played a prominent role in the September 2000 parliamentary and presidential elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in the October 5 uprising that overthrew the Milošević regime. This featured a "March on Rome" style march from Cacak led by Velimir Ilic, the recruitment of Milorad "Legija" Ulemek's secret police forces on its behalf, and fires set to parliament and to ballots. Though the nationalist Kostunica, who was overwhelmingly more popular than he was, headlined the broad-based 19-party Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition during its campaign to victory in the Serbian elections of December 2000, Đinđić effectively controlled the alliance. He became Premier of Serbia on 25 January, 2001.
In 2001, Đinđić played a key role in sending Milošević to the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague[8], despite the unconstitutionality of this move. This followed Milošević's April arrest, led by Milorad "Legija" Ulemek, on unspecified charges, in order to meet a U.S. deadline. Later, Đinđić said that he became disillusioned with the protracted trial of Milošević, and even condemned it as an expensive "circus". Đinđić said the court in The Hague was "allowing Milošević to behave like a demagogue and to control the trial".
| The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Meanwhile, according to Vojislav Seselj, "The newly established regime of Zoran Djindjic systematically covered up the massacre in Srebrenica and saved the main perpetrators involved in the massacre. "[9] To do this, "the criminal proceedings against this group made up of Jugoslav Petrusic, Milorad Pelemis, Slobodan Orasanin, Branko Vlaco and Rade Petrovic...were narrowed down to focus on...extortion...they were given a minimum sentence of one year and then they were released...And there was a complete cover-up of their participation in the execution of Muslim prisoners of war in Srebrenica which was established without any doubt."
Đinđić, while in power, was closely allied with the Surcin gang, led by cigarette smuggling kingpin Stanko Subotic Cane. He, as did his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic, even travelled on official business in Stanko Subotic Cane's private plane. Also, Đinđić's guards included "drug dealers...recently hired by the federal police ministry." Moreover, Milorad "Legija" Ulemek proved very useful to him, though he was known as an important figure in the Zemun gang; later, Legija was accused and convicted of involvement in Đinđić's March 2003 assassination.
In August 2001, after he briefed Kostunica's cabinet on Serbian government links with organised crime, former Serbian State Security officer Momir Gavrilovic was murdered. This caused Kostunica and his 45 DSS members of parliament to withdraw from DOS and the government. As he retreated into opposition, Đinđić consolidated his power. Đinđić even attempted to expel the DSS members from parliament[[10]], claiming the existence of imperative mandate that places all deputies under the control of the party elected to parliament; that leaving that party, DOS, would mean they would have to be replaced by loyal DOS members selected by the DOS leadership, which in this case was Đinđić. Meanwhile, Kostunica and his party openly accused Đinđić of involvement with organised crime.[11]
Kostunica still had the federal Yugoslav army under his command; Đinđić and his DOS colleagues accused him of building alliances with Milosevic-era military officials. He had refused to dismiss General Nebojša Pavković, who led Yugoslavian forces in Kosovo in 1999, and who was later named head of the army by Milosevic. Đinđić backed a DOS party leader and one of Pavkovic's predecessors, Momcilo Perisic, to regain his old post. Perisic however was discredited when caught spying for the CIA[12]. Đinđić denounced the Perisic arrest as "insolence" and demanded the resignation and later the dismissal of Aco Tomic, Yugoslav head of military intelligence who was credited with the arrest. Kostunica rejected this, demanding that Đinđić himself resign.[13]
Thus, Đinđić plotted with Montenegro's separatist leader Milo Djukanovic and with the European Union to end Yugoslavia and nullify Kostunica's power. This created the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro headed by Montenegrin separatist and Djukanovic deputy Svetozar Marovic, with Serbian armed forces coming under the control of Acting President Natasha Micic , a member of Đinđić's DS party. The Serbia-Montenegro Defence Ministry was placed in the hands of the DS's Boris Tadic, who proposed sending Serbo-Montenegrin troops to Afghanistan and had much of Serbia-Montenegro's anti-aircraft capability destroyed as a result of an American request[14]. However, at the point when the unpopular Đinđić's power was consolidated, he was assassinated in a gangland dispute.
Đinđić was received favorably by Western nations. His meetings with Western leaders George Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and others strongly indicated that the West supported his politics. Đinđić had constant disagreements with his ex-coalition partner and then-Yugoslav federal president Vojislav Koštunica, who was his biggest political rival in Serbia itself. His earlier close relationship with Montenegrin president Milo Đukanović had also cooled because of Đukanović's aspiration for an independent Montenegro state.
Assassination
Đinđić was assassinated by Serbian criminal Zvezdan Jovanović in Belgrade on 12 March, 2003. Jovanović attacked him in the stairway of the main Serbian government building at 12:23 PM, and shot him once in the chest. The high-power bullet penetrated his heart and killed him almost instantly. [citation needed] He was rushed to a hospital where he was treated, but pronounced dead one hour later.
Milorad "Legija" Ulemek was blamed as the mastermind of the crime, Jovanovic being one of his subordinates. Legija is the man who helped put Đinđić in power on 5 October 2000, and also led the operation to arrest Milosevic in violation of the constitution in April 2001. He was later prosecuted and convicted of being involved in some of the mysterious assassinations and assassination attempts that marked Yugoslavia in the months before Đinđić took power.
Nataša Mićić, then acting President of Serbia, declared a state of emergency immediately. Zoran Živković was elected by the Serbian Democratic Party as Đinđić's successor.
The state of emergency led to mass arrests of opposition figures and purges of Serbian institutions in violation of established norms of human rights practice.[citation needed] The repressive measures were supported by the major Western powers.[citation needed]
Legacy
His solemn state procession and funeral, held on 15 March, 2003, was attended by hundreds of thousands of citizens and by foreign delegations. He also had a notorious mafioso serving as pall-bearer and black leather coat-clad mourners causing a Serbian historian to joke that this was like "the funeral in The Godfather - except they were better dressed".[15] Đinđić's death represents a political and moral tragedy to many Serbs who saw in him a statesman of hope who guaranteed peaceful coexistence with neighboring nations, integration to Europe and the rest of the world, economic prosperity and a brighter future.
He appealed to people in Serbia whose goal is for their country to join the West, to join the European Union, and to become "normal Europeans" with normal lives. Unlike Vojislav Kostunica, who openly expressed opposition at times to the West, particularly to Nato, and who was in denial that the West and Nato were one, that the West bombed Yugoslavia, Đinđić had no illusions that to join the West meant to subordinate Yugoslavia to those that bombed it in 1999.
Đinđić thus was willing to do anything to achieve this goal. He was not constrained by law or the constitution and made it clear that to him, the ends justified the means. This was in marked contrast to Kostunica who always wanted to present the appearance that the law and constitution were being respected.
Đinđić's alliance with gangsters again shows his willingness to do dirty work to further his ends. Gangsters grew very powerful in Yugoslavia during the Milosevic era because of the economic sanctions imposed by Western powers and the United Nations. Though the Dayton agreement had committed the U.S. to lifting sanctions on Yugoslavia, United States President Bill Clinton immediately violated this with his "outer wall" of sanctions tied to other issues such as the fate of Kosovo. Đinđić understood the importance of using his ties to these gangsters to get them to support his efforts to have Yugoslavia join the West.
Đinđić also understood that he was unpopular and was willing to have Kostunica run as the DOS standard-bearer in 2000. He was indeed lucky to have Kostunica who served as Yugoslavia's Fortinbras; with Đinđić and fellow oppositionist Vuk Draskovic having stuck their necks out shaking Clinton's hand and kissing Madeleine Albright's hand, whilst Seselj annoyed many of his supporters by forming a government with Milosevic, whilst Milosevic bore the scars of 13 years of struggle in power, Kostunica was someone who sat out the struggles at the end of the 1990s. An American-run poll revealed that he was the only opposition candidate who could defeat Milosevic. He ran on "No to Nato, no to Milosevic" and claimed that taking money from the U.S. was "the kiss of death" even though his backers, Đinđić's DOS, were taking such money and clearly were saying yes to Nato.
Đinđić and Kostunica both accepted the view, promoted by the West and by the media it was financing in Yugoslavia, that Yugoslavia could not repair its war damage without Western financial assistance. This media was very effective in making Yugoslavian people believe in this, though Milosevic was successfully having infrastructure and factories rebuilt without Western financial help. This helped Kostunica to justify further his putting Đinđić in power to do the dirty work in order to get this Western financial assistance.
Đinđić and Kostunica realised that they both needed each other for their respective goals. Kostunica believed that Serbia needed to join the West so that it could keep Kosovo and so that Republika Srpska could be maintained. He knew that Đinđić was willing to do the dirty work, so he could stay above it all and continue to claim himself as the champion of Serbian nationalism.
Thus, Vojislav Koštunica, who served as Đinđić's political opponent and critic during his premiership, and today is even assumed as possibly involved in creation of atmosphere for assassination of Dr Zoran Djindjic, acknowledged his work two years later with these words:
- Zoran Đinđić was the first to take this difficult task to lead government in very unstable times. Probably his energy and commitment made it possible for things to move forward. It is one thing to watch it from the sidelines and it is completely different to be a part of it. I understand that now when I am Prime Minister and watch things a bit differently. He was very important for the whole process.
Following his death, a small but influential movement emerged throughout Serbia and the Serbian diaspora organized around a short documentary about Zoran Đinđić (created by Belgrade director Aleksandar Mandić). The documentary - "Ako Srbija Stane" (If Serbia Comes to A Standstill) - was a collection of edited speeches given by Đinđić on a speaking tour in Serbia shortly before his death. A movement called "Kapiraj" created a network of students and other young people who were committed to copying and distributing the documentary free of charge. This campaign was known by the slogan "Kapiraj-kopiraj" (which means "Catch on and Copy" in Serbian) and its purpose was to have a "non-party initiative to have as many people as possible hear Đinđić's message, to put an end to the fleeing from responsibility, and to do the most for oneself so that Serbia does not stop." The documentary has mobilized many people, partly because of its powerful ending: after a series of dynamic, sharp and energetic speeches, the film ends with a freeze-frame of Đinđić which slowly fades to black as a gentle piano piece signifies his death. The freeze frame interrupts Đinđić in the middle of a sentence in which he is about to warn his audience that "This is our last chance. If Serbia stops now...."
The documentary is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwzrnK3pDKo . The Kapiraj-Kopiraj movement has this website: http://www.kapiraj.org
Quotes
- “If someone believes they can stop the implementation of the law by eliminating me, they are seriously deluding themselves, because I am not the system. The system will continue to function, and no-one will receive amnesty for their crimes by eliminating one or two government officials.”―Politika (21 February 2003) and Glas Javnosti (24 February 2003).
- "Many owe their lives to Legija, including me," - New York Times, "Serbs' Premier Is Assassinated; Led in Reforms", March 13 2003. Legija was blamed for the assassination.
- "Why should I run the risk of my family being killed by a car bomb if everything here is being scaled down to zero anyhow?", from a 15 July 2001 interview with Der Speigel during which he complains about not being paid off as promised for Milosevic.
External links
- Fund "Dr. Zoran Djindjic"
- Obituary by Gabriel Partos, BBC News Online
- Freely downloadable documentary containing parts of Đinđić's speeches (without editorials). In Serbian, English subtitles available. (offline)
- Template:Sr icon Official memorial website
- Imagine Serbia Speeches and statements of the Serbian politicians from 1987 - 2007
- "Kapiraj" Movement
