The Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) held its 8th session in Belgrade on 23–24 September 1987. This session proved to be a turning point in the history of Serbia and Yugoslavia, as it marked the rise of Slobodan Milošević as the key force in Serbian politics.
Following the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, Yugoslavia experienced an economic crisis and ethnic riots in the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ivan Stambolić and his protégé Milošević rose through the ranks of the SKS. Stambolić, a political reformist, became the president of the SKS Presidency in 1984, while Milošević became the president of the League of Communists of Belgrade City Committee. Milošević succeeded Stambolić as the president of the SKS Presidency in 1986, and Dragiša Pavlović, another protégé of Stambolić, was chosen as Milošević's replacement in Belgrade.
Amidst the tensions in Kosovo Polje, Milošević was sent to the town in April 1987 where he embraced populism and became increasingly critical of Stambolić's and Pavlović's moderate views on Kosovo. After Pavlović's press conference on the Paraćin massacre on 11 September, a closed session of the presidency of the Central Committee of SKS was held from 18 to 20 September, at which Pavlović's comments were discussed and a letter supportive of Pavlović written by Milošević's ally Dušan Mitević was presented to the attendees as allegedly written by Stambolić.
Later, on 23–24 September, the Central Committee of SKS convened for its 8th session and voted to dismiss Pavlović from the presidency of the Central Committee and his and Stambolić's allies from the City Committee of the League of Communists of Belgrade. Stambolić was later dismissed as president of Serbia in December 1987, which signalled Milošević's successful consolidation of power within the SKS and Serbia. The removal of Pavlović, Stambolić, and others was done in accordance with formal procedures. Despite this, some scholars and journalists, such as Dejan Jović, Jasna Dragović-Soso, Slaviša Lekić, and Zoran Pavić refer to Pavlović's removal as an internal coup d'état or a purge. Stambolić later tried to make a political comeback in the September 2000 general election but was eventually assassinated on the orders of Milošević, a month before the election.
Background
Post-World War II
After World War II, the Communist Party, under Josip Broz Tito's leadership, seized power and established a socialist state in Yugoslavia. Each constituent republic had its own branch of the Communist Party, with Serbia having the Communist Party of Serbia. The federal Communist Party was renamed the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) at its 6th Congress in 1952. Its branches did the same; the Communist Party of Serbia became the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS).
Upon the death of Tito, Yugoslavia experienced an economic crisis, constitutional problems, and a rise in ethnic nationalism. To reduce its debt, Yugoslavia implemented austerity measures. Despite government efforts, the debt, inflation, and unemployment all increased during the 1980s. Additionally, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo experienced ethnic riots in 1981, which were clamped down on by authorities. Kosovo Albanian demonstrators demanded the formation of the Republic of Kosovo, which would have the same constitutional rights as the other constituent republics of Yugoslavia. The SKS leadership responded to the protests by purging the League of Communists of Kosovo and University of Pristina. These riots have been interpreted by the political scientist Dejan Jović as "the beginning of the deep state crisis in Yugoslavia, one that would lead to its dissolution". The publicist and political analyst Zlatoje Martinov somewhat concurs, claiming that the constituent republicans throughout the 1980s evolved into "de facto states with their own armed forces".
The Stambolić–Milošević relationship
In the 1960s, the Faculty of Law of the University of Belgrade was known for enrolling students who would go on to become high-ranking politicians in Serbia. Slobodan Milošević enrolled there in 1960 and met Ivan Stambolić with whom he soon formed a close bond. After finishing studies, Milošević became Stambolić's protégé. For instance, when Stambolić became the director of Tehnogas, an industrial gas company, in 1965, he appointed Milošević as the assistant director at Tehnogas. When Stambolić left Tehnogas, Milošević became its director. Later in 1978, when Stambolić became the prime minister of Serbia, he appointed Milošević as director of Beobank, one of the leading banks of Yugoslavia at the time.
Stambolić was seen as a political reformist and anti-nationalist. Upon the expiration of his mandate as prime minister in 1982, he was appointed president of the League of Communists of Belgrade City Committee. Later that same year, Milošević entered politics after being appointed head of the Stari Grad SKS committee; he left his position as the director of Beobank in December 1983. Stambolić was elected president of the SKS Presidency in April 1984, becoming the leader of the SKS. Milošević was appointed as his successor to his previous position.
Milošević was considered a technocrat, but inside the City Committee, he began initiating campaigns against reformists and dissidents. Miloš Vasić, a journalist and co-creator of the Vreme magazine, described Milošević's actions as Stalinist, saying that he "talked about 'people's democracy', 'great steps forward in the service of socialism', no other Communist leaders used this jargon". By 1985, Milošević gained full control over the League of Communists of Belgrade, appointing officials who were loyal to him; he also garnered support from various professors from the University of Belgrade that were close to Milošević's wife, Mirjana Marković.
Election of Slobodan Milošević
Since the president of the SKS Presidency was limited to a two-year term in office, leading party officials began jockeying for Stambolić's successor in January 1985 at informal sessions. Amongst the candidates were Milošević and Radiša Gačić. Stambolić championed Milošević as his successor and gained support from leading officials, such as his uncle Petar Stambolić, a member of the Central Committee of the 12th SKJ Congress (12th SKJ CC) and the state presidency, Nikola Ljubičić, a state presidency and 12th SKJ CC member, Dobrivoj Vidić, a state presidency and Presidency of the 12th SKJ Congress member, and Dušan Čkrebić, the outgoing president of the SKS Presidency. The media, including Politika, Politika Ekspres, and the Radio Television of Belgrade (RTB), also intensively began reporting on Milošević and his candidature.
However, Milošević's candidature was not supported by the reformists, such as candidate Dragoslav Marković, the president of the Presidency of the SKJ Central Committee from 1983 to 1984, who claimed that Milošević would not bring unity within SKS. At a 25 January 1986 session, eight candidates were nominated for the position, including Milošević and Gačić. Besides himself, Marković also nominated Špiro Galović as one of the competing candidates. Despite support in some corners for his election, Gačić opted to support Milošević after being pressured by Stambolić. In early 1986, Stambolić tried to win over as many as possible for Milošević's candidacy; he told Azem Vllasi, the future president of the presidency of the Provincial Committee of the League of Communists of Kosovo, that it would be easier to work with Milošević than with Marković. In Vojvodina, however, Milošević had a negative reputation amongst the political establishment due to his comments at a party session in November 1984. The outcome of the vote was predetermined, considering that Stambolić had already discussed with members of the presidency of SKS. The presidency of SKS eventually voted 12 for and 8 against to nominate Milošević as the sole candidate for the president of SKS. Despite Milošević obtaining a majority, Stambolić's decision to not vote on other candidates besides Milošević received criticism from individuals present at the session. The election's conduct was also criticised by most local party chapters, including the Belgrade and Novi Sad City Committees.
In the aftermath of the session, a purge inside SKS occurred to allow Milošević to be elected president of the SKS Presidency. Milošević was elected at the closure of the 10th SKS Congress, held on 26–28 May 1986, as the president of the SKS Presidency, with 151 out of 157 votes in favour, while Stambolić was elected president of Serbia by the presidency of SKS. Previously at an electoral session in April 1986, Dragiša Pavlović, a reformist and Stambolić's ally, was elected president of the League of Communists of Belgrade City Committee, as Milošević's successor. Milošević had supported his loyalist Aleksandar Bakočević to this position, though Stambolić and the Presidency did not. Following Milošević's election, Galović told Stambolić: "In the next sixth months, [Milošević] will stab you in the back!". The 10th Congress was the second to last Congress of SKS.
Preceding events
Kosovo Polje gathering
Stambolić, while still the president of the SKS Presidency, initiated discussions to solve Kosovo issue in 1985. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts selected a committee of academics to draft a document that could address the issue. The draft document, titled The Memorandum, was leaked by the newspaper Večernje novosti in 1986. The document made numerous allegations regarding the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, including that the Constitution discriminated against Serbs and that there was an ongoing "physical, political, legal, and cultural genocide" of the Serb population in Kosovo. Both Stambolić and Milošević condemned the memorandum.
Amidst the tensions in Kosovo, Stambolić sent Milošević to Kosovo Polje on 20 April 1987. There, Milošević gave a speech, which, according to the writer Adam LeBor was in "the standard party line of 'Brotherhood and unity'". After returning to Belgrade, Milošević consulted with officials about the situation in Kosovo Polje. Together with Vllasi, Milošević returned to Kosovo Polje on 24 April. Milošević then took a populist turn. Milošević gave a speech, and then, while walking through the crowd of Kosovo Serb demonstrators, repeated "no one will dare to beat you!" (niko ne sme da vas bije!) twice to the demonstrators. The political scientist Lenard J. Cohen characterised the event as the "serpent in the bosom". Following the gathering, Milošević's popularity among Kosovo Serbs ascended.
According to Stambolić, Milošević returned to Belgrade "as a new man". Stambolić was also appalled by how Milošević sided with only one ethnic group. Stambolić had tried to reconcile the nationalists and Titoists but failed. "Stambolić could not make the political leap of faith", Vasić said. After the gathering in Kosovo Polje, Milošević's criticism towards Stambolić and Pavlović intensified, mainly driven by their moderate positions on Kosovo. Stambolić and Pavlović favoured a more conciliatory approach than Milošević did. At a Central Committee of SKJ meeting in June 1987, Milošević proposed the "unification of the Republic of Serbia" and to strip away Kosovo's and Vojvodina's autonomous rights. Boško Krunić, a Vojvodina politician, said that "[Milošević] was very straightforward about the autonomy of Vojvodina. He opposed it". Following the meeting, Kosovo Serbs organised a protest in front of the Federal Assembly of the SFRY in Belgrade, demanding the abolition of Kosovo's autonomy.
Paraćin massacre
Aziz Kelmendi, a Kosovo Albanian recruit in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), shot and killed four JNA soldiers on 3 September 1987 in Paraćin. Of those killed, two were Bosniaks, one was a Serb, and the fourth was a half-Croat and half-Slovene. Kelmendi then fled from the military camp in Paraćin and committed suicide. The media, such as newspapers Politika and Borba, portrayed the killings as politically motivated. Stambolić and Milošević did not attend the Serb JNA soldier's funeral. Those who were present chanted nationalist slogans, including slogans against Vllasi. In the aftermath of the Paraćin massacre, Serbs smashed windows of local Albanian-owned business shops in Paraćin, Valjevo, and Subotica.
Days preceding the 8th session
In light of the events in Kosovo and Paraćin, Stambolić and Pavlović endeavoured to tackle the issue at hand, with Pavlović calling a press conference on 11 September. In his assessment, Pavlović highlighted the increasing prevalence of Serbian nationalism and underscored the significance of critiquing this ideology, pointing out its inability to address social issues or enhance inter-nationality events. "We must criticise Serbian nationalism today because, among other things, Serbian nationalists imagine themselves as saviours of the Serbian cause in Kosovo, without in fact being able to solve a single social problem, and especially without being able to improve inter-nationality events", Pavlović said during the press conference. In the following days, Milošević discussed the Kosovo issue with Dušan Mitević, a journalist from RTB. Milošević told Mitević that Marković had written an op-ed, titled "Dragiša Pavlović's Shallow Opinions", about the dispute between himself and Pavlović under the Politika journalist Dragoljub Milanović's name. With the op-ed's publication, the policy differences between the Stambolić–Pavlović group and Milošević came to light. Dejan Jović referred to the Stambolić–Pavlović grouping as "institutionalists" and Milošević's supporters as "revolutionists", while Stambolić, in his 1995 book The Road to Nowhere, used the terms "cool heads" and "hot heads". There were also other policy differences between them regarding the proper implementation of democratic centralism and a dispute over personnel appointments.