The Presidential Years 357
provinces—Vojvodina and Kosovo—were clearly defined within the frame-
work of the Serb Republic, as were the relations between the federation and the
republics, which saw their legislative and economic powers enlarged. One of
the most important amendments prescribed equal rights for all the languages
and alphabets of the country: this meant that, in Tito’s Yugoslavia, eleven lan-
guages were officially recognized.^512
Moreover, the reform of the party should also be mentioned, in which the
traditionally rigid and highly centralized “cell” structure was replaced by less
formal gatherings called “conferences,” in order to democratize the country’s
political life. On the initiative of Lazar Koliševski, and with Tito’s assent, the
“old couch potatoes” were retired, officials whose merits were mostly connected
to the liberation struggle and postwar reconstruction. After nearly a quarter of
century in power, they were replaced by younger and more learned cadres. The
new retirees were, however, only in their fifties or even forties and prone to
personal dramas. “When I was left without any function [at fifty-five years
old],” wrote Svetozar Vukmanović (Tempo) to Tito with bitterness, “I was
practically blocked from working [in the political field].” He was one of the
most illustrious victims of the “purge” because he had become a burden thanks
to his constant requests to give the trade unions, which he headed, a greater
voice in the formulation of policy.^513
The Ninth Congress of the LCY was held between 12 and 15 March 1969, on
the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of revolutionary activity in Yugoslavia. It
was not attended by any party from the Soviet bloc, apart from the Romanian
one. Tito felt this boycott was a personal affront and in turn he did not take
part in the International Communists Conference in Moscow between 6 and
19 June. However, twenty-five Western socialist and social-democratic parties
did participate in the congress; it was the first communist gathering to include
so many delegations of the moderate left since the communists and social dem-
ocrats split following WWI. Moreover, the Ninth Congress was significant
because it adopted a new statute for the LCY and for the first time dealt openly
with the question of relations between the developed and underdeveloped
nations in Yugoslavia. It also affirmed that the leagues of different republics
were autonomous, which meant that the federal principle was also introduced
into the party and with it, the right to dissent. Observing that businesses could
spend only 6 percent of their earnings, the congress also recognized that self-
management remained more of a concept on paper than a practical reality, and
stressed that it should be strengthened. This suggestion was questioned by many
economists, businessmen, and technocrats, however—some of them proposed
drastic measures, such as the closure of 30 percent of the factories and the
concentration of production in the healthy ones. The party theoreticians pre-
vailed, having no intention of harming the sacred principles of self-management