Large towns under opposition control have already formed a common front which will resist central authorities if they attempt to interfere in local policy. Opposition members in Uzice, Cacak and Kragujevac say that they will behave correctly with respect to the Republican authorities as long as higher authorities fulfil their obligations towards them. Otherwise, they will try other methods. These towns are strong centers and will not allow to be manipulated by the central authorities controlled by the Socialists. Our collocutors, mayors of these towns, believe in other Serbia and their ability to confront central authorities if they try to subvert the local governments.
"We have already established strong links," said Velimir Ilic, new mayor of Cacak. "We have especially worked on economic links. That co-operation will be even stronger, now that we are in power in all three municipalities. True, Kragujevac will be in a somewhat more difficult situation because of 'Zastava' [car and armaments] factory, but I expect that they will be able to resolve their problems. Naturally, they will have our support and assistance in that."
Milan Nikitovic, new mayor of Uzice, reminded that the Association of Free Towns will be established soon; the goal of that organization will be to improve the co-operation among them. This will be that more important since the Socialists will try to cut off the municipalities controlled by the opposition from central sources of funding. For opposition controlled municipalities to succeed, they will have to work together and co-ordinate their policies. "Cacak, Uzice and Kragujevac must work together," said Veroljub Stevanovic, future mayor of Kragujevac. "We expect to have problems in the relations with the central authorities. These towns must co-operate on all levels, but especially work on economic co-operation."
Borivoje Radic, president of the regional Democratic Party council for this part of Serbia, claimed that "the fact that we won in the recent local elections will be extremely beneficial for this part of Serbia. We will be able to put in practice our old proposals and work on regionalisation of Serbia and devolution of central power to local authorities. That will not be easy, since the Socialists control republican and federal governments, but the fact that this axis has been established and that it connects three large towns, shows that we will have a strong basis to work for a development of a different political concept."
"We will try to defend ourselves," insists Velimir Ilic, " with our economy, organization and privatization, on which we will insist. Central authorities will try to use any illegal action to introduce emergency measures. Therefore, we have to respect their laws. I've talked with representatives from the Belgrade municipality Vracar, which managed to survive during the last four years, and they said that they strictly followed the law during their mandate. We will try to get from the central authorities what we are due, and will try to reason with the Socialists and point out that in a multiparty democracy one may loose a local election, but that life in those municipalities must go on. There can be no mistakes. We don't have time for experiments. Everything we do must work from the start".
Milovan Martic, president of the Democratic Party district council for Uzice said that "if Uzice is not satisfied with the funds allocated by the central authorities, we will simply withhold taxes we are supposed to pay to the central authorities. Another possibility is to invite citizens to engage in civic disobedience. If, for example, price for electricity is too high, citizens will not pay their electricity bills until central authorities adjust the price to the current living standards".
"State television tax is another story," added Martic. "It was introduced illegally and should be boycotted because of state-control over the national television and interference with the programming". "Right now," said Veroljub Stevanovic, "we expect to co-operate with the central authorities. We will treat them the same way they treat us. I think that our obligations towards the republican budget are too high. Therefore, we want to re-examine that problem. If we cannot agree, we will use civic disobedience. That's the most important issue. Secondly, we were legally elected by the citizens and will demand increased jurisdiction even in those areas which were traditionally under total control of the central authorities. By this I mean health, education... If we are local authorities and were elected by those employed in education, then we have to also defend their interests and demand increased jurisdiction."
"Absolutely! We are that new Serbia, " said Velimir Ilic. "Kragujevac is a new capital of Serbia. It had to be like this. 'Zajedno' coalition had its first election rally in Kragujevac. This is the cornerstone of a new Serbia."
According to Milan Nikitovic, "central and western Serbia managed to liberate themselves. Unfortunately, there is more to be done in Belgrade. If the capital manages to win back what was stolen from it, then the most significant part of Serbia will be controlled by the opposition. That is a good basis for Serbian-wide elections which will be held before December 28, 1997."
"I think that this is the beginning of a new, democratic, Serbia, in which," said Miroslav Martic, "the authorities can be replaced peacefully in an election. It is common sense that those who fail on their job should leave. The same applies to us. Therefore, in these towns we had a peaceful transfer of power, a very important democratic tradition which heralds the start of a new Serbia, similar to other democratic European countries."(...)