Communism Takes Fall as Belgrade Gains New Mayor

To a chorus of “It’s over! It’s over!” and “Victory! Victory!” two mountaineers scaled a narrow spire above City Hall here Friday night and felled a giant brass star that has marked more than half a century of Communist rule.

Tens of thousands of residents, necks craned in anticipation, broke into wild celebration when the climbers snatched the faded star from the clear, wintry sky.

The dramatic gesture had been ordered by opposition leader Zoran Djindjic, who earlier in the day became the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II not handpicked by the Communists or their socialist successors.

“The ideology of this star is a thing of the past,” said Lambros Hudeludis, 35, one of the triumphant climbers, who recently spent 25 days in jail for painting anti-government graffiti on the nearby presidential palace. “I wouldn’t say this is my personal revenge, but it is certainly something I will always remember.”

The events at City Hall, a stately 19th century mansion that was once home to the Serbian royal family, set off a gigantic street party that lasted into the early morning.

“It is not important that she really understands; there will be time for that later,” said Radovan Nanojlovic, 40, a Belgrade surgeon clutching the hand of his awe-struck 6-year-old daughter as a swirl of party-goers passed by in the night. “It is enough for now that she feels this emotion and remembers this incredible picture.”

The celebration capped a remarkable day of political firsts in this tumultuous capital, which for three months has been the center of a popular revolt against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Belgrade--which serves as the Yugoslav and Serbian capitals--was among 14 cities where the Serbian opposition coalition Zajedno, or Together, won municipal elections last November.

But it took 88 days of street protests before Milosevic’s ruling Socialist Party relinquished power.

After nearly three months in the streets, the grass-roots struggle for democracy moved indoors Friday afternoon as members of the new Belgrade City Council convened their opening session and selected Djindjic as mayor.

In a moment laden with promise and peril, Djindjic took command of the center rostrum in the standing-room-only council chambers, instantly transforming the dashing philosophy scholar into Milosevic’s highest-ranking--and potentially most dangerous--political opponent.

The new mayor warned that the task of running a city of 1.6 million in a country ruled by a hostile central government will be fraught with problems, but he pledged to make Belgrade “an example for all of Serbia” nonetheless.

“Our government constituted here today will be a government of the people, not over the people,” Djindjic pledged in a speech to the 110-member assembly. “This is an ambitious job. We will not have the support of other public organs in Serbia, but we will have the support of the people.”

The historic transfer of power took place in a drab Communist-era municipal building in the center of town, just around the corner from the elegant City Hall where Djindjic will set up office. Milosevic’s presidential palace is also nearby.

The telegenic mayor, dressed in an Armani suit with sparkling cuff links, was swamped by journalists and television crews from around the world; perhaps more significantly, his ascension to power was covered on state-run Serbian television, which has largely ignored the popular uprising against Milosevic but which announced Friday night that it will introduce more “Western-style” methods of coverage.

Breaking Milosevic’s hold on the state-run media has been a key goal of the Zajedno coalition in advance of parliamentary and presidential elections expected next fall. In one of its first official acts Friday, the Belgrade City Council named a new board to oversee Studio B, a city-run local television station that Milosevic had purged of independent journalists a year ago.

Djindjic said he plans to transform Studio B into a commercial station with links to no political party--making it a visible test case of Zajedno’s promise to break with the socialist mold of governing.

In taking power in Belgrade, Djindjic and his coalition partners inherit a city unable to pay its bills even under the socialists.

Djindjic said he has been poring over the city’s books for days and could report only that the figures are depressing.

The new city government voted Friday to order an independent audit of all departments to determine how much money there is, how much was squandered by the previous governments and how much the city owes the 35,000 workers who depend on a municipal paycheck.

“Belgrade faces very big problems, especially with all of the scars left over from the international sanctions,” said Nebojsa Covic, the city’s recently ousted socialist mayor. “On a daily basis, we were collecting between five and eight times less money than we needed to run the city. It is going to be a very difficult job.”

The new Belgrade authorities will also face problems from within their own coalition.

Vuk Draskovic, another Zajedno leader, has clashed with Djindjic over the distribution of the spoils of victory.

Draskovic went so far Friday as to oppose the evening street celebrations, insisting it was still a sobering time for Serbia, which with tiny Montenegro makes up the rump Yugoslav republic.

But the biggest obstacle was literally on the horizon Friday night. As the mountaineers removed the star from above City Hall, a simple glance down the street revealed a companion star in no immediate danger of being toppled: The one toweriing above Milosevic’s office.