 Slobodan Milošević (back) and Ivan Stambolić (front) at the 8th Session | |
| Native name |
|
|---|---|
| Date | 23–24 September 1987 |
| Location | Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Type | Political session |
| Organised by | League of Communists of Serbia |
The Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) held its 8th Session in Belgrade on 23–24 September 1987. This session proved to be a turning point in the history of Serbia and Yugoslavia, as it marked the rise of Slobodan Milošević as the key force in Serbian politics.
Following the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, Yugoslavia experienced an economic crisis and ethnic riots in the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ivan Stambolić and his protégé Slobodan Milošević rose through the ranks of SKS. Stambolić, a political reformist, became the president of the SKS Presidency in 1984, while Milošević became the president of the League of Communists of Belgrade City Commission. Milošević succeeded Stambolić as the president of the SKS Presidency in 1986, and Dragiša Pavlović, another protégé of Stambolić, was chosen as Milošević's replacement for Belgrade.
Amidst the tensions in Kosovo Polje, Milošević was sent to the town in April 1987 where he embraced populism and became increasingly critical of Stambolić's and Pavlović's moderate views on Kosovo. After Pavlović's press conference on the Paraćin massacre on 11 September, a closed session of the presidency of the Central Committee of SKS was then held from 18 to 20 September, at which Pavlović's comments were discussed and a letter supportive of Pavlović written by Milošević's ally Dušan Mitević was presented to the attendees as allegedly written by Stambolić; Pavlović was voted off the presidency of the Central Committee at the closed session.
Later, on 23–24 September, the Central Committee of SKS convened for its 8th Session and voted to dismiss Pavlović and four other Stambolić's allies from the City Commission of the League of Communists of Belgrade. Stambolić would survive the plenum but was dismissed in December 1987, which signalled Milošević's successful consolidation of power within the SKS and Serbia. The removal of Pavlović, Stambolić, and others was done in accordance with formal procedures. Despite this, some scholars and journalists, such as Dejan Jović, Jasna Dragović-Soso, Slaviša Lekić, and Zoran Pavić refer to Pavlović's removal as an internal coup d'état or a purge. Stambolić later tried to make a political comeback in the September 2000 general election but was eventually assassinated on the orders of Milošević, a month before the election.
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