Not only has he destroyed huge efforts of important western powers to transform his old image of a "Balkans butcher" into "a key factor of peace and stability in the region", but he has also destroyed the image of an irreplaceable leader among his followers with his autistic silence and refusal to communicate with the dissatisfied citizens of Serbia in any other way but through his henchmen, such as "Yugopetrol" Tomic [important officials of the Socialist party run state-owned companies, such as state oil company, "Yugopetrol"] and commentators employed by the state-controlled media.
Ruthless media blockade of the opposition campaign during the federal election, imposition of discriminatory conditions, and finally the open theft of opposition votes and criminal rigging of the local election results testify that Milosevic has comfortably settled in the role of "a key factor", who is given a lot of discretion in his internal policies.
Thus, a proven admirer of our Leader, obedient boss Mile, as it later turned out, got, not only himself and those like him, but also the Great Boss himself into a lot of trouble. Even children know that such "dirty games" are kept far from the ears and eyes of the public. Because of Mile's big mouth, some pretty significant embassies in Belgrade had to issue a lot of denials; still, Mile demonstrated what kind of stupid "cadres" the Boss has to rely on.
Unfortunately, natural arrogance of our Leader, which forced him to approach the situation after the November 17 elections in the style "state, that's me", clearly revealed his character: not only was he unmasked as a ruthless bully who doesn't give a damn for the popular will expressed in the elections, but also as a totally irrational politician who cannot bear even the smallest political defeat and is disoriented in a new situation. It was another Milosevic's attack on his reputation of a statesman who is supposed to be "a key factor for peace and stability in the region".
Therefore, no matter what the outcome of this political crisis caused by the surplus of Milosevic's arrogance and his attempt to ignore the will of the people, his silence in the face of these massive protests (either because Milosevic underestimates the protesters or because he fears "the forces of chaos and madness" who attacked the strongholds of his regime with eggs, whistles, horns, bells and paper planes) can have only one result: in the eyes of a significant part of Serbian citizenry Milosevic's authority has been definitively destroyed.
Then, there is his closest collaborator, his wife, who has probably contributed in the destruction of the Leader's authority, not understanding that the forbearance of the wider public has its limits and that it won't stand incessant bombardment with obsolete ideas and cheap literature from the pages of her diary.
With founding of her party (JUL [United Yugoslav left]) and imposition of that party as an omniscient judge and vanguard on the Serbia's road to the future (which many have already seen in the past), she succeeded in significantly reducing his prestige among the members of his own party. Even within SPS [Socialist Party of Serbia], which cannot boast with moral purity and lack of inclination to use every chance for theft, there were expressions of intolerance with respect to the "sister party" and its leading cadres who, in spite of a lot of pre-election talk about the protection of social, that is popular, property, had stolen a huge chunk of that property.
Public abuse to which Milosevic is exposed in the streets and squares all over Serbia, couldn't have ever been organized by the opposition without assistance from Milosevic. Because this time, much clearer than ever before, he demonstrated how much he despises and underestimates his own people. There is no politician in the world who could ignore demonstrations of dissatisfied citizens for days, no matter how unpleasant their demands might be. A smart politician would have probably tried to reduce tension in a public appearance, reduce the damage to his image and at least try to turn the events to his own advantage.
A bloody resolution, with which Milosevic's henchmen have lately tried to scare the populace, is the worst possible resolution of the several year long crisis in Serbia. One should hope that this will be avoided, although one shouldn't underestimate forces which prefer such an outcome and probably will try to provoke it. This is the cause of visible efforts of international factors who are trying to prevent such a resolution of the crisis.
Current indications are that numerous emissaries, who are these days visiting Milosevic, will try to force him and the opposition to some sort of compromise in which both sides will have to make concessions. If that happens, that will mark only a beginning of the process whose duration cannot be predicted, but which will result in a greater degree of democracy in the Serbian society. To a large extent the outcome of this process will depend on the power and skill of the opposition parties and their capability to break the political monopoly of SPS and JUL, by using the newly released positive energy of the people who in the protests expressed its demands for fundamental social transformation.
It is becoming obvious, from numerous messages carried in the columns of student protesters, that a new generation is growing up and that this generation, in spite of repression, and suffocating propaganda which was supposed to push them into political apathy, knows how to use with their own minds, and understands real values, no matter how much all ethical, human and political values had been systematically destroyed over the years. This generation can bear the heavy burden of moral, cultural, economic and political renewal of this destroyed country.
Since it is possible to in advance predict that there will be a lot of obstacles in this direction, the awakened citizenry will have to provide wide ranging support to the new generation, because it has demonstrated that it can respond in a highly civilized and constructive manner to all provocations of the current regime and that it will probably be able to effectively respond to the future attempts of a leader or a party to curb basic human rights: to choose and replace the authoritt which can not fulfil the demands of its voters.