Stability, unity, powerful symbolism
Even New York Times published, in the light of the contested presidency of Donald Trump, an article discussing if America needs a monarch, which was unimaginable until recently. Is the monarch a symbol of unity, well-educated and well-behaved leader, are the monarchies richer (Canada, Australia, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Japan, Qatar, the Emirates, etc.) and more stable than much-marketed republics?
Text: Žikica Milošević
I’ve heard the story of the forged referendum on monarchy vs republic in 1945 in Serbia for many times. I’ve heard it from my grandfather and from my friend’s grandfather who was a member of Department of State Security. Replaced lists on ballot boxes, ballot-box stuffing and other illegal practices took place then. According to all witnesses, the monarchy won, but it was robbed of its victory. Could this be the basis for the annulment of the referendum results?
Without any doubt, it was not a referendum. It was a plain farce, played by those who had siezed the power by force and who had tried to make the world believe that they had the support of the people. The media were controlled by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, all the other political parties were banned and the supporters of the King were either arrested or murdered. No one counted the votes in the so called referendum – the communists invented the results. The National Assembly has the power to annul such results, but it is impossible to annul the consequences of the half a century long communist rule.
Almost all the richest countries in the world are monarchies. Does the monarchy represent an easier and more perfect form of government, without a potential double authority: a formal rule to the King and the virtual rule to the Prime Minister and the Assembly?
All those countries are the richest and the most successful by no coincidence. Those nations are wise. They have been changing the polity over centuries, through evolution and arrangements, without revolutions, violence or blood. A monarch is a symbol of the political stability in those countries. He or she holds the precedence of honour, not the precedence of ruling. The citizens vote for their representatives in parliament; the parliament chooses the government; the elected government runs the country in a full, four-year term. There is no double authority.
Is it possible in Serbia to carry out the transition from a troubled country to a modern, democratic, federalised monarchy, similar to Spain?
Spain is an excellent example. The monarchy had been deposed by violence just like in Serbia. Franco’s dictatorship in Spain, just like the communist government in Serbia, lasted for many years. All state institutions had been destroyed. Nevertheless, upon the king’s return to the throne, the country reclaimed its liberties and prosperity. Therefore, in order to successfully deal with current crisis it is enough to follow Spain in that process.
Is the party you belong to the only one that advocates the restoration of monarchy?
Yes, it is. We strongly and openly advocate that idea. Although in certain way we are a young party, we already have more than 80 local branches throughout Serbia and our representatives in the National Assembly, the Provincial Assmebly and in more than 30 units of local self-government. It is illustrative enough to say that we have collected more than 12000 citizens’ signatures needed for the registration of the party in just nine days.
Only 26% of people would vote for the restoration of monarchy in some future referendum. Having that in mind, how long would it take to educate people prior to referendum about historical facts they haven’t been able to learn about before?
Considering the 72-year-long anti-monarchistic propaganda and all the lies, manipulations and forgeries against the Karađorđević dynasty, we have to be content with the fact that more than the quarter of the citizens support the idea of the restoration of monarchy in Serbia. The idea of monarchy is so deep-rooted in the national being of our people that it is impossible to destroy it. In order to increase the number of monarchy supporters, we need a campaign at least one-year long and the media to be open both for those who are in favour of the idea and those who are against it.
What is your plan for the Belgrade elections?
Our party is going to participate in the elections independently. We would like to see how much support can our idea, our political programme and our people rely on. Predrag Marković, a renowned author, is going to be a number one on our party electoral list. He is also a member of the Crown Council of the Karađorđević dynasty and a former Minister of Culture, Media and Information Society in the Government of Serbia. He was also the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. During his mandate the Assembly adopted the largest number of laws that brought Serbia closer to the EU. Our party’s mayoral candidate is going to be Vojislav Mihailović, BL. He was a mayor of Belgrade in 1999, in the most difficult time for our country, when it underwent bombing. He has got sufficient experience, knowledge and an excellent team of people to run the capital in a responsible and sustainable way.
What are the foreign and interior policies of the party you belong to like?
We tend towards the EU model reforms. We should adopt the values we strongly believe in – market economy, independent judicial system, freedom of the media, equal rights for all our citizens. We want Serbia to have good relations not only with the UK, France, all the EU states, but also with our traditional allies – Russia and the USA, just as our country had when it was a monarchy. Good neighbourly relations with every country in the region are the key to its stability and to prosperity of Serbia itself.
SPO DID NOT FIGHT FOR MONARCHY ANY LONGER, SO I LEFT
What were the reasons for leaving SPO?
I can only speak for myself, because the majority of more than 10.000 members of our new party had not been members of SPO. SPO enjoyed the support of hundreds of thousands of people while it fought for its programme, especially for the restoration of monarchy. It made sense to be a member then. Unfortunately, that party gave up its key goal, the restoration of monarchy, so I realised that there is simply no place for me there anymore.