yugoslavias implosion

possibility of creating an internationalist, democratic, modern community
of people and nations has finally been lost and destroyed. 336
Ćosić was the first to demand revision of the national policy
which had led to confrontation in Serbia. The liberals and a
few intellectuals wanted the matter to be settled once and for all by
granting Kosovo genuine equality both within Serbia and within
the federation. They worked to pass the 1974 Constitution, which
defined the status of the autonomous provinces as constituent elements
of the Yugoslav federation: “the Socialist Autonomous Province
of Kosovo is a constituent part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia
and of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.” 337 The constitutional
status of Kosovo and Metohija had changed in December 1968,
when the province was given its own constitution, which defined the
status as follows: “The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo is
the autonomous socialist democratic socio-political and self-managing
community of working people, equal Albanians, Muslims, Serbs,
Turks, Montenegrins and members of other nations and nationalities
and ethnic groups, based on the power and self-management of the
working class and all working people.” (The omission of the name
“Metohija” from the official designation of the province was a concession
to the Albanians. It was challenged in 1988 and the name was
changed back to “Kosovo and Metohija”.)
Under the 1974 Constitution, the provinces of Vojvodina and
Kosovo were established as constituent parts of the federation (i.e.,
their status was almost equal to that of the republics) and therefore
entitled to bypass Serbia in pursuit of their interests. These changes
were resisted in Serbia, particularly by Dragoslav Marković; a working
group was formed including Professors N. Pašić and R. Ratković
who prepared a study entitled The Socialist Republic of Serbia and the
336 Dobrica Ćosić, Piščevi zapisi 1952–1968 (A Writer’s Notes), Filip Visnjić, Belgrade, 2000
337 Ustav SFRJ (Constitution of the SFRY), Prosveta, Belgrade, 1974, p . 685 .
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