55-512: Anti-government protesters led by Democratic Opposition of Serbia Civic organizations: [REDACTED] Federal government of Yugoslavia Government parties: Vojislav Koštunica Zoran Đinđić Velimir Ilić Goran Svilanović Čedomir Jovanović Srđa Popović Slobodan Milošević Momir Bulatović Mirko Marjanović Radomir Marković Mirjana Marković President of Serbia and Yugoslavia Elections Family The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in
110-649: A CIA official who worked in the Balkans, said Milosevic was a "genocidal maniac"; when asked whether U.S. intelligence supported protests against the Serbian president, he said "It was a broad-spectrum involvement." David Shimer quotes an unnamed senior U.S. administration official in 2000 who took umbrage at the revelations of former U.S. intelligence officers: "I can’t talk about what we did or didn’t do. I’m just not going to talk about it...They may not take their oaths and legal obligations seriously, but I do." A DOS victory
165-627: A June 2000 meeting in Berlin that she wanted to see Milošević removed from power. Homen also met at the U.S. Embassy in Hungary with former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia William Dale Montgomery . According to Montgomery, "Milošević was personal for Madeleine Albright, a very high priority." He added: "She wanted him gone, and Otpor was ready to stand up to the regime with a vigor and in a way that others were not. Seldom has so much fire, energy, enthusiasm, money — everything — gone into anything as into Serbia in
220-560: A decade been a symbol and bastion of Milošević's rule. When their studios were taken over, the station was quickly renamed Novi RTS ("New RTS") as a sign that the regime had lost power. Although the protest was mostly peaceful, without a larger escalation of violence, 65 people were injured in the riots and two people died: In the time between elections and the protest, Milošević said that he would gladly resign but only when his term expired in June ;2001. Due to pressure caused by
275-518: A greater probability of beating Milošević in an election than that of Zoran Đinđić . Koštunica's critical stance on the United States was also significant, as he and his party, Democratic Party of Serbia , categorically rejected US financial support. In spite of this, Koštunica was an inevitable beneficiary of US support, witting or not, as other parties associated with either the DOS coalition or
330-538: A potential electoral opponent. His decomposed body was found three years later in March ;2003. The four officers who had kidnapped him were sentenced. Milošević was charged for initiating the assassination. Soon after the announcement, the anti-government youth movement Otpor! led the campaign to topple the administration and introduce a transparent democracy. To unify opposition, eighteen parties in Serbia formed
385-631: A priority if he were elected. In October 1999, the National Democratic Institute hosted a conference at the Marriott Hotel in Budapest, inviting activists from the Serbian opposition. In the conference, Douglas Schoen advised opposition activists to campaign in a united coalition. At the conference, activists were shown an opinion poll commissioned by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates , depicting Koštunica with
440-493: A second round between Koštunica and Milošević would take place. The vote was largely boycotted in Montenegro and by Kosovo Albanians (not under Yugoslav control). Yet, Milošević officially won by a large margin in these parts of the country. These unexpected results provoked stronger accusations of election fraud and led DOS to call for peaceful protests to topple the government. Some obvious irregularities could be found in
495-559: A second round, that he would support Koštunica over Milošević in a runoff. "...we are really in the state where we are hostages--not only because of Milošević but because of some specific decisions in American policy which I do not understand entirely." Vojislav Koštunica, August 2000 Koštunica officially began his campaign in the Braničevo District on 30 August 2000. On 2 September, he officially submitted his candidacy to
550-413: A strategy to strip the leader of his legitimacy, turn his security forces against him, and force him to call for elections, the result of which he would not acknowledge. In 1998, a dozen students met to form Otpor! (Serbian for "resistance"). Analysing the mistakes of the 1996–97 protests , they realised they needed more effective organisation, strategy, planning, recruiting, and everything necessary for
605-533: A sustained fight. Galvanised by outrage over new laws that imposed political control of their universities and harassment of independent media, the Otpor students called for the removal of Milošević and the establishment of democracy and the rule of law. Prior to this, Milošević was cracking down on opposition, non-government organisations and independent media. From 1991 onwards there were campaigns of civil resistance against his administration that were to culminate in
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#1732765583002660-520: The Otpor! movement received a sum of $ 41 million in financial support from the United States from 1999 to 2000. USAID provided 5,000 spray cans for anti-Milošević graffiti and the printing of 2.5 million stickers with the message "Gotov je" , or "He's finished". The United States also paid for the training of electoral monitors in Szeged , Hungary , and subsequently paid monitors $ 5 each after
715-496: The 2003 presidential election and was even beaten by 11% by Tomislav Nikolić , candidate of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party . Since only 38% of the electors voted, the presidential election was cancelled for the third time in a row. Therefore, the DOS was disbanded on 18 November 2003. The disbanding was mostly decided by the Democratic Party, the party founded by the then Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić , who
770-770: The Chairman of the Executive Council of Vojvodina , Boško Perošević , was assassinated. Following his assassination, the Yugoslav Left announced it would propose a Law on the Defense of the State , which was scheduled to be assessed by the Parliament on 23 May 2000. Meanwhile, state-affiliated news outlets accused the opposition of the terrorism and subservience to NATO . The law was never passed through
825-512: The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, with Vojislav Koštunica as the candidate to confront Milošević. Apart from this, two major opposition parties, Serbian Radical Party and Serbian Renewal Movement also had candidates ( Tomislav Nikolić and Vojislav Mihailović , respectively), but the main battle of the elections was the one between Milošević and Koštunica. The election campaign lasted for about two months and
880-556: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević 's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly referred to as the 5 October Revolution ( Serbian : Петооктобарска револуција, Petooktobarska revolucija ) or colloquially the Bulldozer Revolution ( Serbian : Багер револуција, Bager revolucija ), after one of
935-542: The Kolubara mines on 29 September, which produced most of Serbia 's electricity. The protest reached its height on 5 October 2000. Several hundred thousand protesters from all over Serbia arrived in Belgrade to protest, chanting "Gotov je!" ("He's finished!") Unlike previous protests, there was no large scale police crackdown. The parliament was partially burned during the protests. Ljubisav Đokić (1943-2020)
990-540: The international sanctions remained in place, and inflation was over 100%. In the winter before the elections, the European Union sent heating fuel to the cities of Niš and Pirot , which were governed by opposition parties. Political scientist Michael Parenti asserted that the EU was ultimately denying such shipments to the remainder of Yugoslavia, offering humanitarian aid only to towns which were not governed by
1045-641: The Chamber of Citizens, whilst the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro won the most seats in the Chamber of Republics. The elections were boycotted by the ruling coalition of Montenegro , led by the Democratic Party of Socialists . In the summer immediately following the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia , opposition parties began discussing who could run as a united opposition candidate in
1100-558: The DOS coalition as well as the Serbian Radical Party and Serbian Renewal Movement announced that Koštunica won as much as 55% of the first round vote. The Federal Electoral Commission did not issue any statement until 26 September, when they announced that Koštunica had an eight-point lead in the first round, but did not record the required 50% of all votes cast to avoid a runoff vote. Electoral documents were subsequently incinerated. When Đinđić announced that his party, on
1155-468: The DOS coalition formally endorsed Koštunica's candidacy. Dragan Maršićanin claimed that "voters were looking for someone who was a supporter of democracy but also a proven patriot and a nationalist in the kindest sense", and expressed his opinion that Koštunica had the closest such profile. The Yugoslav economy was struggling at the time of the elections; only a year after the NATO bombing campaign, many of
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#17327655830021210-584: The Federal Electoral Commission. Over the course of his campaign, he emphasised that he would seek the removal of international sanctions on Yugoslavia , return the country to international institutions such as the United Nations , and solve conflicts between the constituent republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Although Milo Đukanović supported Stambolić's bid for the DOS candidacy, he refused to support Koštunica and boycotted
1265-502: The Federal Electoral Committee official results. For example, the sum of the numbers of valid and invalid votes was not equal to the number of voters; the sum of the numbers of the voters voting at the polling stations and the voters voting at home exceeded the total number of voters; the sum of the numbers of the used and the unused ballot papers was short by 117,244 in comparison to the number of eligible voters,
1320-542: The Georgia's Rose Revolution . Serbia's opposition organisation Otpor has been involved in training students in civil disobedience in Georgia. Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( Serbian Cyrillic : Демократска oпозиција Cрбије , romanized : Demokratska opozicija Srbije , abbr. DOS ) was a wide electoral alliance of political parties in Serbia , intent on ousting
1375-511: The Parliament. In June 2000, Stambolić told Kovačević that he would run as the DOS candidate as long as the coalition parties approved of his candidacy, and that he run face-to-face against Milošević as opposed to a different SPS candidate. On 6 July 2000, the parliament amended the constitution of Yugoslavia such that the president would no longer be selected by the Parliament , but would be directly elected instead. He also announced that
1430-525: The West (in 2000, the average monthly salary in the country was $ 30). Researcher David Shimer wrote that most Serbs did not realize that the U.S. was directing the opposition's electoral strategy and funding the creation and distribution of campaign materials, although this was no secret. Among other things, U.S. President Bill Clinton instructed the CIA to direct efforts to prevent the Serbian leader from winning
1485-543: The Yugoslav parliament, it was now to be directly elected via the two-round voting system of presidential elections with a maximum of two terms. Many onlookers believed that Milošević's intentions for supporting such reforms had more to do with holding power than with improving democracy. On 27 July 2000, the authorities announced that the early elections were to be held 24 September 2000, although Milošević's term wouldn't expire until 23 July 2001. The elections for
1540-468: The campaign against Milošević, organizing meetings with opposition leaders outside the country and "providing them with cash" inside Serbia. Also, he said, "Many of the key players who became senior figures in the follow-on government continued to meet with us and continued to tell us that it was our efforts that led to their success." CIA Deputy Director John E. McLaughlin noted that "I know stuff about that, but I’m not able to talk about it." Douglas Wise,
1595-556: The election entirely. Likewise, Vuk Drašković also refused to endorse him. Furthermore, Koštunica occasionally differed from the rest of the DOS coalition, such as in his criticism of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia . He stated that "there are many things about the Hague tribunal that are more about politics than law", adding that Milošević's indictment would not necessarily be
1650-594: The election. On 15 August 2000, the United States Department of State announced the opening of an office of Yugoslav affairs within the US embassy in Budapest . The Department of State added that the office "will consist of State Department and [USAID] officials and will work to support the full range of democratic forces in Serbia". The office's budget and specific role was not disclosed by diplomats at
1705-491: The first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes. His role in the Yugoslav Wars led to international sanctions against Yugoslavia, which had a devastating impact on the Yugoslav economy and society, while NATO bombing significantly damaged the country's infrastructure. While the overthrow of Milošević was reported as a spontaneous revolution, there had been a year-long battle involving thousands of Serbs in
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1760-618: The governments decision to extradite Slobodan Milošević to the ICTY , and officially left the coalition in July next year. Social Democracy was pushed into the opposition in May 2001 after a split in the party, as the faction which was eventually recognized by the Supreme Court of Serbia as the legitimate name bearer, was not regarded as such by the DOS, which transferred all the positions held by
1815-400: The largely non-violent revolution of October 2000. As the end of his first term in office of the president of Yugoslavia approached (previously, he had been elected president of Serbia , in two terms, from 1989 to 1997), on 6 July 2000, the rules of the election of the president were changed. Whilst the president of Yugoslavia had previously been chosen for one term only by the legislature, in
1870-408: The months before Milošević went". The International Republican Institute trained 400 activists outside the country, who returned to Serbia and trained another 15,000 people to observe polling stations inside the country. On election day, the opposition was able to get a minimum of two trained observers to each polling station in Serbia. Each observer's participation was paid at $ 5 - money provided by
1925-575: The most memorable episodes from the day-long protest in which a heavy equipment operator charged the Radio Television of Serbia building, considered to be symbolic of the Milošević regime's propaganda . Milošević's rule has been described by observers as authoritarian or autocratic , as well as kleptocratic , with numerous accusations of electoral fraud , political assassinations, suppression of media freedom and police brutality . He became
1980-407: The number of eligible voters was different from the one announced before the elections and has differed in the presidential, federal and local elections results. All of these discrepancies provoked massive outrage. The results were declared false immediately after Milošević was removed, and revised official results were released shortly afterwards. The new results were practically the same, except for
2035-453: The number of total votes and the votes for Milošević, both of which were lower by 125,000–130,000 votes, thus giving Koštunica an absolute, if narrow, first-round victory; Koštunica finished with just 11,843 votes over the threshold to avoid a runoff (4,916,920 voters cast their votes, so 2,458,461 votes were needed for a "50% of turnout + 1 vote" first round victory; Koštunica got 2,470,304 votes). The protests initially started with strikers at
2090-611: The opposition's demand for government's depose. In May 2003, New Serbia was excluded from the coalition after a series of conflicts with the other members. In 2003, New Democracy was renamed into the Liberals of Serbia , and the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions founded the Labour Party of Serbia , to which it transferred its membership in the DOS. Dragoljub Mićunović , the DOS candidate, performed poorly in
2145-810: The party members to the other faction's adherents. That faction, having not received the legal recognition, had merged in July 2002 with the Social Democratic Union into the Social Democratic Party . In March 2003, after a split in this party, the Social Democratic Union was renewed, still being a member of the DOS, while the Social Democratic Party was excluded from the coalition in November 2003, after having announced that it would support
2200-470: The presidential and local elections in September would be held simultaneously; the constitution gave the president of Yugoslavia a four-year term, but Milošević organised presidential elections a year before his mandate expired. On 25 August 2000, Stambolić disappeared. Witnesses said that he had been kidnapped and "thrown into a white van" after walking from Košutnjak to a local restaurant. Meanwhile,
2255-487: The presidential election. According to the American president, "There’s a death threshold, and Milošević crossed it." Vince Houghton, who later became historian of the International Spy Museum, said the U.S. had no intention of allowing Milošević to remain in power. John Sipher, who became station chief in Serbia immediately after Milosevic's ouster, said the agency spent "certainly millions of dollars" on
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2310-500: The protests, Milošević resigned on 5 October 2000. For a year leading up to the elections, the United States-funded consultants played a crucial role in the anti-Milošević campaign. The key symbol of the campaign was the slogan Gotov je! ( Serbian Cyrillic : Готов је! , meaning "He is finished!"), created by Otpor!. Part of the U.S. funding of the opposition (a reported $ 41 million) included 2.5 million stickers with
2365-518: The ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and its leader, Slobodan Milošević . Its presidential candidate, Vojislav Koštunica , defeated Milošević in the 2000 general election , while the DOS secured a majority of seats in the National Assembly . The coalition was able to form a government and selected Zoran Đinđić for Prime Minister . Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia left the coalition government in July 2001, in protest of
2420-594: The ruling parties. Some Kosovo Albanians voted for Milošević in hopes that it would lead to the further disintegration of Yugoslavia . This along with voter fraud and strong Kosovo Serb support allowed Milošević to win an absolute majority in the southern province of Kosovo . The DOS coalition asked the Serbian Renewal Movement to pull Vojislav Mihailović out of the race and to endorse their candidate, but Mihailović and his party refused. However, he added that if he were not to make it into
2475-522: The slogan and 5,000 spray cans for anti-Milošević graffiti. Material was channeled by the U.S. Department of State through QUANGOs . In the months leading up to the election, the National Endowment for Democracy provided funding to opposition parties and media, unions and student groups, with Otpor! being the largest beneficiary. Slobodan Homen, head of international affairs at Otpor, recalled how Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at
2530-426: The standard of the war-torn country. He even said that during Milošević's regime he was the owner of a company which operated with success, but that post-Milošević politicians made such unhealthy economic conditions, that his business failed and he went bankrupt, even selling his iconic wheel loader and living on 180-euro social benefits. Đokić died 11 July 2020. The Bulldozer Revolution is thought to have inspired
2585-471: The time. Koštunica, already under attack by accusations of collaborating with foreign powers, called the office "the kiss of death". After polling stations closed on 24 September, multiple parties and authorities reported extremely contradicting results. In a conference for journalists only a few hours after polling stations closed, Nikola Šainović initially announced that Milošević was leading with 50% to Koštunica's 31% of first round votes. On 25 September,
2640-498: The upcoming elections. In a meeting in Budva that summer, Branislav Kovačević and Nenad Čanak proposed that Ivan Stambolić run for president with the backing of a multi-party coalition. After the formal establishment of the DOS coalition, Stambolić met with Kovačević on several occasions. Several events occurred during the spring before the election that significantly contributed to a politically volatile environment; on 13 May 2000,
2695-498: The upper house of the federal parliament, Council of Citizens ( Veće građana ), as well as the local elections were also scheduled to be held on the same date. On 25 August 2000, Ivan Stambolić , a former mentor and political ally of Milošević, was mysteriously kidnapped and detained from his home and was summarily executed in Fruška Gora . The hit was believed to have been initiated by Milošević so he could prevent Stambolić from being
2750-541: The vote. This led to open conflict between the opposition and government. The opposition organised demonstrations in Belgrade on 5 October 2000 , after which Milošević resigned on 7 October and conceded the presidency to Koštunica. Subsequently released revised election results showed Koštunica with slightly over 51% of all votes cast. In the Federal Assembly elections, DOS emerged as the largest faction in
2805-413: Was a wheel loader operator who became the main symbol of the overthrow. Đokić turned on his wheel loader and filled a public broadcaster building in Belgrade with it. The loader served as a kind of elevator and bullet protection. Đokić had a spinal deformity and at the time he was a timber yard and construction material warehouse owner. The building's tenant, Serbian state television RTS , had for
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#17327655830022860-401: Was extremely tense, with numerous incidents, accusations of treason, independent media shutdowns and even murders. The vote took place on 24 September 2000. The DOS coalition reported that Vojislav Koštunica won over half of the votes, enough to defeat Milošević in a single round. The government-controlled Federal Electoral Committee claimed that no candidate won over 50% of the votes and that
2915-508: Was guaranteed in parliamentary elections in December , where they achieved a two-thirds majority. On 1 April 2001, Milošević was detained by Serbian police and later transferred to The Hague to be prosecuted by the ICTY . He died in his cell on 11 March 2006, a few months before the conclusion of his four-year trial . Soon after the overthrow, Ljubisav Đokić started opposing the new government, saying it had done almost nothing to improve
2970-441: Was held using the two-round system , with a second round scheduled for 8 October. After the first round, the Federal Electoral Commission announced that Vojislav Koštunica of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) was just short of the majority of all votes cast needed to avoid a runoff against the runner-up and incumbent president Slobodan Milošević . However, the DOS coalition claimed that Koštunica had received 52.54% of
3025-421: Was later assassinated on 12 March 2003. Major positions held by Democratic Opposition of Serbia members: 2000 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia presidential election Slobodan Milošević SPS Vojislav Koštunica DOS Milošević resigns on 7 October 2000 General elections were held in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 24 September 2000. They included the presidential election, which
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