by Zoran B. NIKOLIC
Fear of Eggs: Even when the caravan, during the first three days of the tour traveled through Vojvodina (on Sunday morning it headed from Pancevo towards Smederevo) the organizers of the tour warned the passengers in the "leader" bus that the next stage was a risky one, that they should stick together and upon hearing a whistle immediately form a group and head towards the bus. In Smederevo an Otpor member was arrested while the opposition caravan was there. Zoran Djindjic, the manager of the DOS campaign and the president of the Democratic Party (DS) went towards the Police station surrounded by a swarm of brawny bodyguards to inquire about the health of the arrested young man, but he had in the meantime been released after only fifteen minutes in captivity. Then the manager of the campaign went on a walk through Smederevo. While he passed over the square next to the main church in Smederevo, he was spotted by wedding guests who were leaving the church. The bride and bridegroom insisted on having their picture taken with Zoran Djindjic and he kissed the bride and the maid of honor. One of the observers concluded "this is a set up", and thus the incident ended.
Just before the departure from Smederevo, a rumor spread through the caravan that the caravan would be greeted by eggs in Pozarevac. Then one of the officials had an idea: "Why doesn't the bus with journalists go in first?"
Fortunately, his suggestion was not taken seriously, and the eggs also never materialized. As the caravan was approaching Pozarevac, the number of Police patrols in the streets increased.
The convoy was stopped at a big Police checkpoint at the entrance to the town. Drivers took the documentation to the Police kiosk and photographers got out of the bus and pulled out their cameras. They were immediately approached by a man in civilian clothing who told one of the photographers "No photos. Don't make me take your tape away." The control was over in five minutes, so that the caravan got on its way. Citizens of Pozarevac were waving at the convoy from their windows and that was the best reception until then. Party activists, who believed that to be from Pozarevac is the same as loving the dynasty, were pleasantly surprised.
At the main square in Pozarevac, at the same spot where the opposition rally had been planned on May 9, 2000, the DOS leaders were greeted by 500-600 people. Behind the stage a big sign "the Democratic Opposition of Serbia" had been put up. Left from the stage there was another one saying "Discoteque Madona" [owned by Marko Milosevic, Slobodan Milosevic's son]. A policeman was taping the rally from the top of the apartment building to the right of the stage, just like on May 9. However, there was no Police in the streets. Only several tall men with missing necks and dressed in track suits were grazing the edges of the crowd. Everyone recognized "Marko's boys". Journalists who had arrived to Pozarevac somewhat earlier in their own cars, said that that morning all the posters announcing the arrival of the DOS caravan had been taken off and that during the morning the Police was making sure that no one put any new posters up.
Rallies on the election tour of the DOS are opened by actors. In Pozarevac that honor was given to Milenko Zablecanski and Sergej Trifunovic. After them Momcilo Trajkovic, the president of the Serb Resistance Movement of Kosovo and Metohija, spoke. "They say that we, the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are responsible for bringing Milosevic to power. They say that we created his political career. He now guards Pozarevac just the way he guarded Kosovo. Both you and us should regain our honor on September 24." When Trajkovic finished, the MC asked the crowd to find Goran Svilanovic, the president of the Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS). Svilanovic has a strange habit of walking on his own through the crowd, without a swarm of attendants and bodyguards, and talking to the people. "Do not be afraid". "They must be really scared if they put a policeman and these fat guys you can see around us on every corner," he said. Vladan Batic, the president of the Christian Democrats, promised to bring on September 25 priests to Pozarevac to "cleanse the town". Zoran Djindjic congratulated the gathered crowd for becoming a part of history by coming to the rally. "When tomorrow someone says: 'I was in Pozarevac on that day', we shall say 'If you're not on a Police tape, you weren't," said Djindjic.
After the end of the rally, a van came to pick up Djindjic at the square. Another practice that hadn't happened earlier in other towns visited by the DOS caravan.
After Pozarevac, the mood of the participants in the caravan suddenly improved. "There are no more forbidden towns in Serbia," said an official of an opposition party.
Democracy and Blows: It turned out that exactly the first three days of the tour, the trip through Vojvodina, were "the risky part of the tour". The most dangerous moment of the first third of the tour was the arrival of the opposition officials and journalists (without presidents of the parties) to a market in the Pancevo district Streliste. There the opposition supporters were greeted by a thick and long queue for cooking oil in front of the local supermarket. When the elderly pensioners from the queue realized who had come to pay them a visit, they started shouting and cursing: "Get lost, beat it!", "All of you are scum!". Then they started to jostle and push the strangers, to grab cameras and camcoders.
At every rally in Vojvodina there was one elderly man who would loudly shout "Long live Milosevic!", "Traitors!" or something similar. In Kula, the opposition rally took place between the Police station and the local office of the Serb Radical Party. The Radicals put a wooden bench with several copies of their free publication "Greater Serbia" in front of their office. Some of about 200 opposition supporters at this rally took that as a provocation and tore up several copies of the magazine. At that, an elderly supporter of the Radicals got out of the office with a copy of "Greater Serbia" and all the time while the opposition leaders where speaking he shouted "Greater Serbia!" and loudly commented on the speeches. People who had come to the rally cursed him and asked him to leave, but in vain. The old man kept talking about his democratic right to do what he was doing. Djindjic's bodyguards joined in the process and one of them even hit the old man with his head. In Sombor another Djindjic's bodyguard pushed away an old man who was trying to sabotage a rally there and shouted at another local who was trying to calm down the situation "Who are you, get lost!" At a press conference held on the moving bus, unusual just like the rest of this campaign, Zoran Djindjic responded to the question of Vreme's journalist about such behavior of his bodyguards by saying that he had not been aware of it and that he would make sure they were "tender" in the future. "We expected provocations and that's why the bodyguards are tense, but all of that is harmless in comparison with earlier rallies where eggs flew," said Djindjic. The bodyguards only approached hecklers at other rallies and kept an eye on them. In the Morava valley region hecklers were quieter, usually holding a beer bottle in hand.
Trumpets and Tarabics: The scenario of the visits of the DOS caravan to towns is usually similar, although the organization of the visit itself was left to the local party organizations. The convoy of three buses with large signs "The Democratic Opposition of Serbia" and "Kostunica, of course" enters a town honking. Passengers wave at passers by. Most of them wave back, in Cuprija exclusively with the three-fingered salute. In Bor no one reacted at all.
Then, somewhere in the town a line is formed, led by the brass band and young mea who carry party flags. A passer by in Zrenjanin exclaimed: "These foreign mercenaries are so beautiful and colorful!" The previous day in Kula, an observer, honestly confused, asked a policeman: "Why don't you arrest them all?" After the brass band, (in Zrenjnanin Aca Stankovic Zmija's band from Grdelica played in stead of the Bozidar Lukovic's orchestra, while in Kikinda music was provided by a local Tambouritza orchestra) the guests climb the stage.
The first speakers are the actors. Branislav Lecic appears most frequently. He regularly receives a big applause and insists on talking about the Tarabic's prophecy according to which "in the autumn of year 2000 a man with the name matching that of his birthplace will come to power in Serbia". In Cuprija Neda Arneric and Ljiljana Lasic joined the convoy. Ljiljana Lasic said on that occasion: "Half of you did not recognize me. I used to be beautiful, just like Serbia used to be beautiful."
Then presidents of the opposition political parties deliver speeches. Zoran Djindjic most frequently compares the opposition program with cleansing of a house full of cockroaches and bats. Goran Svilanovic addresses women, for whom he says that they have the right to keep their families together. He requests from them to convince their husbands that the real courage is to stay with their families at home, instead of going to the front.
General Perisic usually talks about "internal and external enemy", emphasizing that it is impossible to fight the irresponsible policies of the international community as long as Milosevic is in power. Dusan Mihailovic, the president of the New Democracy attended rallies in Jagodina and Negotin but he did not get on the stage. Vice president Vojislav Andric spoke on his behalf.
Ever Larger Effort: It is a difficult task to visit 50 towns in 12 days in a convoy with more than 100 people. Zoran Djindjic said that initially it was not envisaged to turn this tour to a series of rallies, but the local organizations were the organizers of the visits, so that the caravan automatically encountered a stage at every square. In some places, such as in Kula and Vrbas, according to Djindjic, the fact that a stage was set up can be considered as a success that needed several days of work and uncertainty. The campaign was envisaged more like a visit to a town and a chance for candidates to talk with the citizens. The visit to a fair in the Zrenjanin region village of Muzlja came closest to that ideal. Djindjic and Svilanovic tasted caramel candy from the market stalls. Svilanovic bought honey candy and gave it out and treated journalists with beer. "Goran has to taste everything," was Zoran Djindjic's comment.
Another problem was that in some towns, as for example in Jagodina, Paracin, and Cuprija, the local hotels refused to provide accommodation for the participants in the convoy, so that they had to sleep in motels in the surrounding area. The campaign suffers from mistakes of the organizers as well. The schedule keeps slipping back mostly because the tour schedule is too ambitious with too many stops, and the caravan in almost every town stays longer than initially scheduled for. Drivers do not know the local roads and frequently get lost.
Nevertheless, the DOS campaign has several serious advantages. All the participants in the caravan have been working ever harder, and the successfully completed visit to Pozarevac improved everyone's morale. Regular speakers have already lost their voices, especially Goran Svilanovic, so that every morning they drink laurel tea, but they are still in a good mood. "The more my voice fails, the louder I shout," says Svilanovic. Young party activists, without whom it would be impossible to distribute all the PR material, have already forgotten who is from which party and are not at all impressed by their leaders. Nevertheless their enthusiasm does not wane. That enthusiasm is feeding on the increasingly better reactions of the citizens to the passing of the caravan through their towns, referred to by Zoran Djindjic as "the yeast effect". The citizens of Bor simply would not let Zoran Djindjic get back on the bus. They wanted to talk to him, shake hands, or get an autograph. Previous visits of Vojislav Kostunica should also be credited for such a mood among the citizens. In places not previously visited by Kostunica, people usually hurry to the square thinking that they would see him and hear him speak. The speakers themselves frequently mention their presidential candidate. Their favorite slogan is: "From the local commune to Kostunica, vote for the Democratic Opposition of Serbia".