Subject: Serbia polls end of beginning for DOS, slippery slope for Milosevic
Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2000 6:50:06 PST
From: C-afp@... (AFP / James Hider)
Organization: Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
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BELGRADE, Dec 23 (AFP) - Serbia's polls are set to hand
democrats a broad mandate to start rebuilding the devastated country
after 13 years of iron-fisted rule by Slobodan Milosevic, for whom
the result could be the last nail in a political coffin.
Even if the Democrat Opposition of Serbia (DOS) does win its
predicted electoral landslide, the problems it faces it after
Saturday's poll are daunting, especially for an alliance of 18
parties with a history of internal discord.
"Our first democratic government has a single slogan --
establishing law and order in Serbia," said Zoran Djindjic,
earmarked to become prime minister.
The newcomers will first have to rebuild the people's trust in
state institutions after years of disillusionment with the old
regime's corruption and inefficiency.
The new authorities, who won a major victory when DOS candidate
Vojislav Kostunica ousted Milosevic in September's federal polls,
made a first step Saturday by introducing a variety of measures to
prevent electoral fraud.
"The first priority will be to form a government that is
credible, not corrupt," Djindjic said.
"This will be the most important job in Serbia, because
monopolist groups (under Milosevic) took control of all the sources
of power, money and privilege."
The economy, crippled by years of international sanctions and
mismanagement, needs financial assistance and new investment to
breathe life into its socialist-era industry.
And prices, which were fixed under the Milosevic regime to avoid
social unrest, have shot up since the power change, leaving many
Serbs facing a hard winter of power outages and food shortages.
"Frankly I expect pressure, strikes, all of this in the next few
months. And it's normal because people will try to see results in
just a few months and its not easy to achieve," said Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, a DOS head.
But DOS supporter Miodrag Markovic, a 39-year-old street vendor,
was optimistic about economic recovery.
"The important thing is get rid of Milosevic's Socialists. Once
they are gone, the economy will take care of itself. We were always
a rich country," he said.
The international community has pledged millions of dollars of
aid to help the country through the winter and welcomed Belgrade
back into the fold with open arms.
But the DOS will also face a slew of political headaches in
power.
Under Milosevic, ties with Montenegro, Serbia's last remaining
partner in federal Yugoslavia, hit an all-time low.
The tiny republic's pro-independence leadership has welcomed the
democratic changes here but said continued union will be at most a
loose confederation of independent states, and reserves the right to
opt out completely.
In Kosovo, many of the remaining Serbs are still Milosevic
supporters, while the ethnic Albanian majority of the UN-run
province overwhelmingly want to cut all ties with Yugoslavia.
Kosovo's strife has spilled over into southern Serbia, where
ethnic Albanian rebels are waging a separatist struggle with
Belgrade's forces to graft their region on to the breakaway
province.
But if the future looks like an uphill struggle for the
reformists, the outlook is grimmer still for Milosevic.
He was among the first to vote early Saturday, although if he
thought his gesture might sway voters he is likely to be
disappointed.
Opinion polls show his Socialists will be lucky to win 18
percent of the vote, compared to the DOS' estimated 70 percent.
With the UN court in The Hague calling for his extradition to
face war crimes charges and DOS leaders demanding he face trial
here, Milosevic's best bet is surviving as a political force.
Despite his wild miscalculation in calling early federal
presidential polls in September, his party re-elected him as their
leader in November.
But in the streets there is little evidence of a political
future. In contrast to September, no campaign posters showed his
face in the election run-up.
Street-vendor Markovic said the Socialist have no chance, even
as an opposition.
"I guarantee that in one year the Socialists will not exist.
Maybe they will be an underground party," he said.