Ante Marković

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Ante Marković

Prime Minister of SFRY
In office March 1989 – December 1991
Preceded by	Branko Mikulić
Succeeded by	None

Born	November 25, 1924 Konjic, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Political party	CPY, Union of Reform Forces

Ante Marković (born November 25, 1924 in Konjic, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)) was the last prime minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He is a Bosnian Croat.

He graduated from the Electrotechnical Department of the Technical Faculty of the University of Zagreb in 1954.^[1]

In 1986. he became president of the Presidency of Socialist Republic of Croatia (thus becoming 7th Croatian president) replacing Ema Derosi-Bjelajac. He held that position until 1988. when he was replaced by Ivo Latin.

He became prime minister in March of 1989 following the resignation of Branko Mikulić. At the end of the year, Marković launched a new and ambitious program of unprecedented economic reforms, including stabilization of currency and privatization by giving employees company shares. The result of his monetary reform was a halt to inflation, which had plagued Yugoslavia in previous decades, and a short-lived but spectacular rise in the standard of living. This made Marković one of the most popular politicians in Yugoslav history.

Marković owed his popularity to the image of new, modern Western-style politician who doesn't shy away from applying make-up before television appearances or starring in television commercials. As such, he quickly became the darling of liberal circles who wanted Yugoslavia to be transformed into modern, democratic federation. Marković also maintained popularity by staying out of increasingly virulent quarrels within the leadership of Yugoslav Communist Party or trying to act as mediator between various republics.

When CPY broke up in January 1990, Marković had only his popularity and apparent success of his programme on his side. In July 1990, he formed the Union of Reform Forces (Savez reformskih snaga), a political party supporting reformed Yugoslavian federation. According to a poll conducted by the Federal Executive Council (SIV), this party had support of 14% of people in Bosnia, and less than 5% in other republics^[2].

Later, his programme was sabotaged by Slobodan Milošević and Serbian government, and the authority of federal government was diminished by secessionist moves in Slovenia and Croatia. Last months of his tenure Marković tried to find compromise between secessionists and those demanding that Yugoslavia remains as single entity. His efforts, although favoured by new democratic governments in Bosnia and Macedonia, ultimately failed, because army - which was supposed to be his greatest ally - sided with Milošević and Serb nationalists.

In 1991, the USA cut off all financial aid to Yugoslavia until all 6 republics held free elections (1991 Foreign Operations Appropriations Law 101-513), contributing to another destabilization of the economy, along the with already big foreign debt of the country^[3].

Marković remained in office even after the start of the war, only to resign in December 1991, insulated and without any authority.

After that, Marković disappeared from the public eye. In 1993 he was rumoured to be Tuđman's choice for Croatian prime minister, apparently due to his economic expertise. The post ultimately fell to Nikica Valentić, who had used some of Marković's recipes to halt inflation.

Marković instead dedicated himself to a business career. In the early 2000s he worked as an economic advisor to the Macedonian government.

He appeared as a witness at Milošević's trial at the ICTY in 2003. This appearance broke his 12 years of silence; after that testimony, he gave an interview to the Zagreb-based Globus news magazine. In his testimony he stated that both Milošević and Tuđman confirmed to him that in March 1991 in Karađorđevo they made an agreement to get himself out of politics. [[1]]^[4].