(3 of 3)
Stanisic's calculus is a shrewd one, based not on any sympathy for the demonstrators but instead upon cold self-interest. Unfortunately for Stanisic, however, this stance has locked him in a battle with a group led by one of the few people in Serbia whose power rivals his own: Milosevic's wife Mira Markovic. She is an ardent communist who acts as Milosevic's confederate and ideological mentor. The party she controls, the Yugoslav United Left, is comprised of hard-liners who are urging Milosevic to give no quarter to the demonstrators. Markovic feels that Stanisic is peddling dangerous advice and undermining her husband's authority. In the past two weeks Serbia's independent press has carried several stories on attempts by members of Markovic's party to remove Stanisic from power.
For the pragmatic Stanisic, Milosevic's wife presents a formidable challenge. Until now no one in Serbia has ever entered the political ring with Markovic, grappled with her and won. But Stanisic is not a man to be toyed with. He is a passionate hunter, and friends say that although he has little time for his hobby now, if given half a chance, he will track and kill "almost anything." Unaccustomed to being hunted himself, it is unclear how he plans to counter Markovic's attacks. But whatever his strategy, how Stanisic decides to play his cards in the next few weeks could well determine Milosevic's fate. And with it Serbia's.
--Reported by Dejan Anastasijevic/Belgrade, Alexandra Stiglmayer/Zagreb and Douglas Waller/Washington