314 The Presidential Years
associate himself with the dogmas of the defense secretary, Ivan Gošnjak, the
Croatian interior secretary, Ivan Krajačić (Stevo), and the president of the Fed-
eral Assembly, Petar Stambolić. For thirty-eight months he ruled with their
help alone, without convoking any higher party body. The danger of a return to
the old political beliefs encouraged some Yugoslav economists to draw up a
so-called “yellow paper” and later a “white paper,” in order to show the Marxists
in power that even in socialism there could be periods of development or reces-
sion, and to stress that the reform was not successful because it was not bold
enough. The arguments of economists had little impact, especially in light of
the infighting between liberals and conservatives at the top of the party. The
apple of discord was the draft for the 1962 plan, which met with strong oppo-
sition in Slovenia and Croatia, since it favored the central administration and
its economic hegemony. In December 1961, the Slovenian members of the Pro-
ducers Council, one of the parliamentary chambers, left the session in protest
while in the Federal chamber the vice-president of the Ljubljana Assembly
voted against the legislative proposal in a move that had no precedent in post-
war Yugoslavia.^257
In spite of the difficulties and hostility he had to cope with, after a long
period of work with his collaborators Kardelj finished the draft of the new
constitution. When Ranković had the opportunity to read it, he discovered that
the republics were given not just fictitious but real powers, which he considered
unacceptable. He immediately contacted Tito to express his disapproval. Tito
agreed with him, saying, “This cannot go on.” The following day the marshal
called Ranković: “If things are going to go on this way, I will resign.” “It is not
necessary,” Ranković replied. “We will call the CC plenum and we will work
this out there.”^258
Between 14 and 16 March 1962 an extraordinary and secret session of the
Executive Committee of the LCY was organized, attended by the entire polit-
ical elite, although the topic to be discussed was unknown. Unexpectedly, a
document on corruption among the most important functionaries of different
republics was presented, which also pointed out an increase in cases of local
nationalism. In his speech, Tito noted that “sometimes decentrali zation mani-
fests the characteristics of a disintegration,” insisting on a strict respect for
democratic centralism as defined by Lenin. “One wonders whether this state
of ours is capable of resisting destruction.... Is it able to survive or not?”^259
This was the start of a fierce discussion that developed into a clash between
those wanting further development of self-management and the defenders of
“state-ism.” The latter gained the upper hand, whereas the standard bearers of
“republicanism,” the Slovenes above all, found themselves accused of promoting
“petit bourgeois anarchy.”^260 Ranković argued for curbing self-management,