The Later Years 403
he was an architect of that recognition and of the alliance of the smaller Yugo-
slav nations against Belgrade.^56
When in July 1978 Dolanc proposed a reduction of the forty-seven-man
Presidium of the LCY by half and the establishment of a seven-man “political
bureau” with himself at the head, the “old guard,” with Vladimir Bakarić in the
lead, reacted immediately. It seems that the Croat politician told him that party
elders knew perfectly well how Stalin had come to power after Lenin’s death,
and that they had no intention of repeating the experience. In the internal
conflicts that followed, mutual rivalries and jealousies grew stronger, provoking
a paralysis of the decision-making processes in political life. At the top of the
party the wait for D-Day created an oppressive atmosphere. A British general
commented that “the last great favor Tito could do for his country is to die as
soon as possible.”^57
Since he was not ready to allow any of his colleagues to grow too strong, it
is probably no coincidence that only eleven days after Kardelj’s speech on “small
Titos,” the marshal proposed, without warning the members of the LCY Pre-
sidium, that this institution be transformed into a collective body similar to the
state presidency of the federation. It was therefore decided that a new chairman
should be nominated every year, according to an established rotation mecha-
nism. Fifty-year-old Branko Mikulić, an ally of Bakarić’s known for being a
ruthless cour tier, was chosen first. Stane Dolanc remained the secretary of the
renewed twenty-four-member Presidium, therefore a diarchy was created at the
top of the party. This was designed so that the two would control each other, but
in fact it resulted in Dolanc’s withdrawal. On 15 May 1979, a day before he was to
travel to Moscow in Tito’s entourage, Dolanc declared, to general surprise, that
he was resigning his office, having filled some of Kardelj’s duties.^58 Kardelj had
died the previous February, unable to protest against Tito’s policy from beyond
the grave in any way other than refusing a state funeral at the federal level and
opting for a markedly Slovenian ceremony. The marshal took part in the funeral
service without being able to hide his animosity toward his deceased comrade.^59
The inclusion of Stane Dolanc in the delegation accompanying Tito to
Moscow suggested to Western observers that he was back in the running as a
possible successor to Tito. His sudden resignation, which also meant that he
would not accompany the president after all, said something quite different.
Although he remained in the Presidium as a representative of Slovenia, and
received the highest Yugoslav decoration, he lost his key role at the top of the
party at a critical moment, less than a year before Tito’s death. He had domi-
nated the Executive Bureau for nearly a decade, although the mandate for this
office, according to the rotation rules, should have lasted just one year. He was