Yugoslav Cabinet's Resignation Shows Communist Fragility in Fractious Land
Having seen their prime minister roasted on Friday, the Yugoslavs are spending a four-day New Year's weekend eating roast suckling pig as if there were no tomorrow. They may not be far wrong.</br></br>"Nobody is particularly worried," said economics professor Ljubisa Adamovic, taking a break from celebrations in Belgrade. "We are in such bad shape, we can't imagine that things could get much worse."</br></br>But the resignation of Branko Mikulic and his cabinet in the face of a collapsing economy hardly means things will get much better. It again demonstrates Yugoslavia's inability to make sense of a convoluted variant of communism that refuses to be reformed. And it is one more hard jounce on a road that some diplomats in Belgrade say may lead to the breakup of the Yugoslav federation.</br></br>Mr. Mikulic, who had held office for two years, decided to quit after the country's parliament failed to pass a law intended to restrain public spending. The spending cut was part of a deal struck last spring with the International Monetary Fund. The fund agreed to advance $416 million to help Yugoslavia cope with its $20 billion foreign debt. In return, the government promised austerity to stem inflation, running now at an annual rate of 230%.</br></br>The austerity law could yet be resurrected, but the government's troubles ran deeper. As in other Communist countries, Yugoslav politicians have reached a consensus on reform. Nearly all agree that their economy needs a dose of the free market. But among six fractious republics and two autonomous provinces, nearly all disagree on what reform means.