Yugoslav Reformers Warn of Fresh Protests
October 15, 2000 - 0:0
BELGRADE Pro-democracy reformers in Yugoslavia warned on Saturday they would bring protesters back onto the streets if allies of ousted president Slobodan Milosevic continued to stall on a deal to surrender power.
Backers of new president Vojislav Kostunica said people would show their anger if Milosevic's socialists did not finalize a deal to hold early elections in Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic, and form a transitional government.
Mass protests across the country last week forced Milosevic to accept defeat in September's presidential elections.
Since then, Yugoslavia has opened up to the West with amazing speed after a decade of four Balkan wars and international isolation under the authoritarian Milosevic.
Kostunica has received a stream of high-level Western officials in Belgrade and was due on Saturday to attend a European Union summit in the French resort town of Biarritz.
But the new president's backers have struggled to consolidate their hold on power.
Reformers Warn of Rallies Twice in the past week, Kostunica's supporters have announced deals with the socialists for Serbian parliamentary elections in December, only for Milosevic's representatives to later claim that all the details have not been finalized.
"If they change their minds and decide not to have elections in December, I know that people will be on the streets again," Zoran Djindjic, a senior Kostunica backer and leader of the Democratic Party, told Saturday's edition of the Danas daily.
"If there are no elections, there will be rallies," he said.
Milosevic's socialists and their traditional allies remain in control of the Serbian Parliament and government, key power centers in Yugoslavia which have control over much of the nation's finances and an estimated 85,000-strong police force.
Talks to hammer out a deal on the Serbian Parliament, which has a mandate until next September, and a transitional administration were expected to resume on Saturday evening.
Both sides appear to have engaged in games of political bluff over the past few days, making it difficult to predict the final outcome of the talks.
Milosevic Accused The socialists, in a deep crisis caused by the bitter taste of defeat unfamiliar to them under Milosevic's rule, at one point said the Serbian government would continue in office but later restarted negotiations with Kostunica's supporters.
Kostunica's backers first spoke of Friday as the deadline for agreeing to elections but later changed it to Saturday. Some analysts believe they would struggle to mobilize many citizens, who now want politicians to sort out problems among themselves.
Another top reformer, Nebojsa Covic, accused the socialists of living in the past and failing to see a new reality.
"They are buying time, not understanding that their time has expired, just like their President Slobodan Milosevic," said Covic, leader of the Democratic Alternative Party.
Milosevic, indicted by a UN court for Kosovo war crimes, has not been seen in public since conceding defeat in a television address on October 6 but his opponents accuse him of continuing to pull strings behind the scenes.
(Reuter)
Backers of new president Vojislav Kostunica said people would show their anger if Milosevic's socialists did not finalize a deal to hold early elections in Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic, and form a transitional government.
Mass protests across the country last week forced Milosevic to accept defeat in September's presidential elections.
Since then, Yugoslavia has opened up to the West with amazing speed after a decade of four Balkan wars and international isolation under the authoritarian Milosevic.
Kostunica has received a stream of high-level Western officials in Belgrade and was due on Saturday to attend a European Union summit in the French resort town of Biarritz.
But the new president's backers have struggled to consolidate their hold on power.
Reformers Warn of Rallies Twice in the past week, Kostunica's supporters have announced deals with the socialists for Serbian parliamentary elections in December, only for Milosevic's representatives to later claim that all the details have not been finalized.
"If they change their minds and decide not to have elections in December, I know that people will be on the streets again," Zoran Djindjic, a senior Kostunica backer and leader of the Democratic Party, told Saturday's edition of the Danas daily.
"If there are no elections, there will be rallies," he said.
Milosevic's socialists and their traditional allies remain in control of the Serbian Parliament and government, key power centers in Yugoslavia which have control over much of the nation's finances and an estimated 85,000-strong police force.
Talks to hammer out a deal on the Serbian Parliament, which has a mandate until next September, and a transitional administration were expected to resume on Saturday evening.
Both sides appear to have engaged in games of political bluff over the past few days, making it difficult to predict the final outcome of the talks.
Milosevic Accused The socialists, in a deep crisis caused by the bitter taste of defeat unfamiliar to them under Milosevic's rule, at one point said the Serbian government would continue in office but later restarted negotiations with Kostunica's supporters.
Kostunica's backers first spoke of Friday as the deadline for agreeing to elections but later changed it to Saturday. Some analysts believe they would struggle to mobilize many citizens, who now want politicians to sort out problems among themselves.
Another top reformer, Nebojsa Covic, accused the socialists of living in the past and failing to see a new reality.
"They are buying time, not understanding that their time has expired, just like their President Slobodan Milosevic," said Covic, leader of the Democratic Alternative Party.
Milosevic, indicted by a UN court for Kosovo war crimes, has not been seen in public since conceding defeat in a television address on October 6 but his opponents accuse him of continuing to pull strings behind the scenes.
(Reuter)