240 The Postwar Period
since the statutes voted on by the Sixth Congress were flexible enough to allow
for the emergence of new organizational forms. He added, however: “Today
the crisis of form and substance of political and ideological work is much
deeper. The growing freedom in the economy is on a collision course with old
relations and old visions. We now have to discuss this whole organizational and
ideological system of ours, and about the future apparatus—it is a fundamental
transformation.”^450
Djilas described as ridiculous the accusation leveled against him that he
wished to disband the party. He only wanted to reorganize it, since the LCY was
not the old party anymore; it did not have all the power in its hands and it was
not homogeneous in its membership, since it embraced not just a Communist
vanguard, but a good portion of the popular masses. Especially after the war,
the party had become more and more populated by peasants, who presumed
that they could assure themselves of its privileges. The old prerevolutionary and
revolutionary party did not exist anymore; all that was left was its heritage.
“Therefore,” he wrote, “today the work in grassroots organizations... in the
party apparatus is not only fruitless, but even paralyzes the creative activity of
Communists, their fight for democracy and their real contribution to political
and public life.... For this reason, the Communists have no need to solve the
current political problems outside the Socialist Alliance.”
What remained, then, for the grassroots organizations of the LCY? To
choose the functionaries and delegates and, even more important, to reconsider
ideology. But this should not be carried out in secret, but openly, with all those
who were interested. “The contemporary League of Communists of Yugoslavia
should, therefore, ‘extinguish’ itself as a classical party, whereas the voluntary
discipline of true Communists should be strengthened,” Djilas said. Gradually,
the LCY would become a solid ideological nucleus that would operate beside
the Socialist Alliance, just as “the Communist walks beside the citizen.”^451
Djilas’s writing aroused the interest of Western diplomats and journalists
who dedicated much attention to his reflections, considering them the most
significant event in Yugoslavia after the Cominform split. This “bourgeois”
backing did not help him.^452 His friend General Peko Dapčević was the first to
signal how precarious his position was. At the close of the year, he met Tito at
Lake Bled in Slovenia. When he returned to Belgrade, he alerted Djilas that
the “Old One” was furious indeed. This was later confirmed by Kardelj and a
heated discussion followed during which Djilas expressed ideas more daring
than ever before: he asserted that Tito was supporting the bureaucratic appara-
tus and that, sooner or later, a clash with him would be unavoidable, saying
“Tito is ready for a museum.” He forecast the coming of a new socialist party
that would stand side by side with the LCY, and nearly spoke in favor of a