The Serbian Radical Party, SRS, long known for its nationalist rhetoric and adherence to the idea of a Greater Serbia, is quietly changing its image and policies, defying the testimony of its imprisoned leader, Vojislav Seselj.

The Radicals emerged in February 1991 from the fusion of two hard-line nationalist groups, the Serbian Chetnik Movement and the People’s Radical Party and began its rise to power in the 1992 general election, when it won more than 70 seats in the 250-seat Serbian parliament.

The party first took office in 1998 in the so-called national unity government together with Slobodan Milosevic’s Socialists and the Yugoslav United Left, JUL, headed by Milosevic’s wife Mira Markovic. Seselj and the Radicals’ current acting president, Tomislav Nikolic, both served as deputy prime ministers.

But they were not in power for long. After the fall of the Milosevic regime in 2000, the SRS returned to the opposition benches. In early 2003, three weeks before the assassination of the centrist prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, Seselj surrendered to The Hague tribunal.

The charge of war crimes against their leader did not lead to any loss of support among Serbian nationalists and that year the Radicals emerged as the strongest single party in Serbia’s parliament with 82 seats.

Their dilemma then and ever since has been their inability to take power, as other parties do not want to go into coalition with them.

Hence, the SRS have stayed in opposition, giving their support to measures they like, such as the new constitution, which was adopted in a referendum in October and opened the way for the latest elections.

On the eve of the launch of the election campaign in November, Seselj went on hunger strike in protest against his treatment by the Hague tribunal and the Radicals refused to take part in the campaign while their leader refused to eat.

Apparently hovering between life and death, Seselj then left his political testament to his party urging them to remain vigilant against Serbia’s “great enemies" in Nato and the EU.

He told the Radicals to remain true to Serbia’s traditional ally Russia, as well as with China, India and other countries opposed to American hegemony and insisted they avoid ever going into coalition with the centrist Democratic Party of Serbia, DSS, of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica or the Democratic Party, DS, of President Boris Tadic, and what he called “other similar traitors”.

The party could never accept the independence of Kosovo, either, but must continue the fight for the unification of all Serbian lands, a code term for Greater Serbia.

However, Seselj’s “last” testament lost most of its impact when it turned out he had resumed his meals in mid-December, after the tribunal granted most of his demands.

According to some analysts, the hunger strike has in the meantime harmed the party, forcing the SRS to delay the start of their campaign. Seselj’s testament has also appeared to rule out any prospect of the SRS forming a coalition government.

Nikolic himself has recently distanced himself from Seselj’s platform and said that Seselj’s testament was no longer very valid as “he is alive”.

This week, Nikolic went further, saying he now saw himself as the party’s true leader in Serbia. “I am now Seselj in Serbia and I lead the party,” he said, adding that the SRS would ignore Seselj’s command not to co-operate with Kostunica if it wanted to, as the party acts “in Serbia’s interests”.

“This is Nikolic’s electoral message revealing that he is now the main person in Serbia and that his party is not being led from the Hague,” the observer commented to Balkan Insight, going on to say that Nikolic’s interview was probably orchestrated by Aleksandar Vucic, secretary general of the Radicals who is masterminding SRS media liaisons.

Still, it seems that publicly Radical leaders are still denying that the change has taken place. Vucic denied that the party aimed to shed Seselj’s legacy. “We still stand by what he said,” he told Balkan Insight, insisting they would never abandon the demand for a Greater Serbia.

Political science professor Zoran Stojiljkovic said disagreements within the party leadership both with, and over, Seselj were increasingly obvious, as the party sought to reflect the demands of voters as opposed to those of its incarcerated leader.

“The most important thing for citizens is social security whereas the issues Seselj keeps insisting on from The Hague rank fifth or sixth on their agenda,” he said. “You have a problem if your leader is not present at the scene of action; the party leadership seems to be guided by the concerns of voters,  not Seselj's messages.”

In another sign that the party is drifting away from Seselj, party leaders have markedly changed their public appearances with a view to softening their macho image. Vucic is now a frequent guest on women's chat shows, for example, discussing his love for British pop music and support for an end obligatory national service in the armed forces, neither of them traditional Radical causes.

The SRS has also made social security and the economy, not Greater Serbia, the focus of their campaign, promising new jobs, a crackdown on corruption, support for agriculture, reform of pensions, the renationalisation of commercial banks and a shake-up of the judiciary.

In the party’s economic programme, voters can learn that the party supports “brownfield investments as well as small and middle-sized companies and a relaxed monetary policy, which would lead to lower rates”. As one Belgrade observer remarked, “Every day they sound more like Social Democrats than the Radicals”.

Vucic says the recent concentration on economic concerns simply reflects the fact that Serbia’s economic woes have piled up since 2000. “It’s ridiculous that the very people who are sacking workers are promising more jobs,” he said, referring to the ruling centrist parties.

But in another sign of the party’s growing distance from Seselj, the SRS election posters feature neither Seselj nor any other party bigwig. Under the slogan “So that we can be better off tomorrow”, they show an array of ordinary people instead.

Intriguingly, the party has quietly shelved its old policy of antagonising Serbia’s ethnic minorities, and now courts their support as potential partners in government.

“The minority parties must be in power in Serbia, regardless of which other party is in power,” said Nikolic recently. “They also need more money for education, roads and employment...they should not be in the opposition.”

Nikolic firmed this offer up recently going even further, saying that he might be prepared to give the interior ministry to a representative of a non-Serbian party. “We’re interested in finances portfolio,” he said.

While some observers say the SRS attempt to reform its image has come too late to win power after this election, others think the Radicals are playing a longer game.

As the next government might be minority government led by the DS, they say the SRS may join forces with the DSS to bring it down.

“If Kosovo gains independence after the elections, Kostunica’s party and the Radicals may accuse the Democrats of being ‘traitors’ and unite to force a fresh election within six months,” the observer told Balkan Insight.

Originally published by BIRN, www.birn.eu.com.

Predrag Popovic and Dragana Nikolic Solomon in Belgrade