yugoslavias implosion

130
ChApter 2
and attempted reversal of the politically decentralized and economically
liberal reform process that had been agreed upon by Tito with
the adoption of a new constitution in 1963. The State Security Service
came under the control of the Army, and from then until the
break-up of Yugoslavia, the Army’s counterintelligence service
played a key role in political events.
The Brioni Plenum raised the question of the role of the League
of Communists of Yugoslavia (lcy) within the system of self-management
as well as of relations within the Party. Democratic forces in
Serbia seized the opportunity to pass important decisions concerning
the political system, especially with regard to altering the role and
character of the State Security Service and transforming the lcy.
They were particularly critical of the attitude of the State Security
Service toward Albanians in Kosovo, which was described as a “drastic
example of chauvinistic practice.” 170
As Serbia embarked on a process of liberalization that energized
political life throughout the republic, other republics, especially Slovenia
and Croatia, experienced similar shakeups. These processes
provoked a reaction from “centralist” conservative forces in Yugoslavia,
particularly in Serbia, as already mentioned where conservatives
saw the departure of Ranković in 1966—and the passage of the
1974 Constitution—as signaling the beginning of the end of Yugoslavia.
171 Serbian conservatives calculated that they could get the
better of their democratic counterparts only by relying on the decision-making
power of the federal center working in conjunction
with the ypa. The conservatives sought to postpone political changes
170 Ibid. p .41
171 Aleksandar Ranković joined the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1928 and was active
in the resistance during World War II . After the war, he was Minister of the Interior,
heading the military and secret police . From 1948 to 1966 he also held the second
highest post in the executive branch of the Yugoslav government; he served as
vice president of the republic from 1963 to 1966 . He was regarded as a possible
successor to Tito, especially in Serbia, until he was removed at the Brioni Plenum .