The Presidential Years 387
party members a circular letter in order to point out the main problems of the
moment and invite them to close ranks.^679 The marshal, persuaded since his
youth that the “Bolshevik avant-garde” was indispensable for the construction
of socialism, accepted the proposal, allowing Dolanc to snap into action: on
19 September 1972 in Split, he gave a speech that had a long echo and was
published three days later by the Belgrade press. “Tonton,” as Koča Popović
mockingly called him because of his obesity, declared before his Dalmatian
audience: “Without a united communist party, there would be no Yugoslavia,
considering its historical, economic and cultural differences. This means it is
necessary to strengthen the party with a purge at all levels, changing penal
legislation to save the results of the revolution, if necessary also with adminis-
trative sanctions.”^680
These words, full of obscure threats, were even published by Moscow’s
Pravda,^681 and were followed by the “letter” that Tito and Dolanc sent to all the
members of the LCY, but which remained unknown to the larger public. It
confirmed the necessity to strengthen cohesion, the ability to act quickly, and
the efficiency of the League, which should return to being a “revolutionary
organization.”^682
In an interview for the Zagreb newspaper Vjesnik, given to a well-known
journalist, Dara Janeković, Tito stressed that Yugoslavia needed an avant-garde
party in which there would be no room for careerists devoid of any connection
to socialism. He criticized the democratization of the regime introduced in
1952 by the Sixth Congress, underlining that communists were obliged to oper-
ate in a disciplined and unitary manner. “He who is a communist is a soldier,”
he said. “As long as the revolution is in progress, he is a soldier of the revo-
lution.”^683 A week later Tito convened an informal gathering of prominent
members of the Serb party, also inviting the army chiefs. The discussion lasted
from Wednesday the ninth to Monday the twelfth of October. This unusual
and exceptional session of seventy-three people was organized on the marshal’s
behalf by Draža Marković, president of the Serb parliament and a leading
conservative, with the aim of isolating Nikezić and his followers, who still
controlled the institutional organs of the Serb LC.^684 A heated debate arose
between the “healthy forces” and the liberal leaders, in which Tito himself
took part. He stressed that “we have been too fascinated by democracy,” al-
though he was not able to convince the majority of those present of his views.
On the contrary, at the end of the first session, the unthinkable happened: the
marshal was outnumbered, although Marko Nikezić and Latinka Perović did
not defend themselves very effectively. By Friday night, they had triumphed.
Dušan Bilandžić wrote in his diary: “There was celebration in Belgrade. Tito
is defeated.”^685