Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    Odraz B92 vesti (by 4 PM), January 8, 1997

    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 4 PM
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    US PLEASED WITH YUGOSLAV ARMY HEADQUARTERS STATEMENT

    The US has saluted the statement issued by the Yugoslav Army
    Headquarters after this Monday's meeting of the army Chief of
    Staff with the student delegation. The Yugoslav army chief-of-
    staff said the army will not interfere in the electoral dispute
    between the opposition and Serbian President Milosevic, FoNet
    reports Reuters as saying. Representative of the State Department
    Glyn Davies called this an important and positive development and
    reiterated the US call on the Serbian authorities to recognize the
    November local electoral results without delay and make possible
    the freedom of the media.


    BREAKING CORDONS: BELGRADE STUDENTS LEAD 2:0

    On the 48th day of protests, the students of the UofB scored 2: O
    against the riot squads trying to contain them in Knez Mihajlova
    Street and the Student Square. Several hundred students fooled the
    police by rushing down some of the side streets. It took the
    police a quarter of an hour to bring the students back to the
    place ``designated'' for their protest. The police was quite
    friendly with the students, some of them smiling. The Student
    Steering Board has announced an action called ``Blockade against
    the Blockade'' to begin tomorrow. The students will stand face to
    face with the riot squad cordons until the latter step aside or
    join them.


    BLIC: JUL IN THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT?

    By the end of this month, there will likely be a reshuffle in the
    Serbian government, the independent daily Blic learned from well-
    informed sources in the ruling SPS.  The impending changes, the
    source said, come at the insistence of JUL.  The number of JUL
    representatives in the new government will correspond to JUL's
    representation in the Federal Parliament. The same source told
    Blic that it is uncertain whether the new government would have
    any New Democracy members, whose party has criticized the regime's
    conduct in and following the recent local elections in Serbia.


    NEDELJNI TELEGRAF: MIRKO MARJANOVIC'S CABINET FALLS

    The latest issue of the weekly Nedeljni Telegraf claims that
    Serbian President Milosevic is about to make his final decision
    about the policy he will adopt to get the country out of its
    present political paralysis. The most probable option, the weekly
    reports, is for the Serbian President to dismiss Serbian Prime
    Minister Mirko Marjanovic's cabinet and instruct a new prime
    minister to co-operate with the opposition. Nedeljni Telegraf
    predicts that Milosevic is likely to use this to shift at least
    part of the blame for the electoral blunders to the outgoing
    republican government, as it is almost certain that he must accept
    the OCSE recommendations if he wants to pursue the pro-reform and
    pro-European option. Nedeljni Telegraf has learned from well-
    informed circles in Vienna that the Belgrade authorities have been
    given January 16 as the deadline to implement the OSCE
    recommendations. Should it fail to do so, the EU Ministerial
    Council and the incoming US Secretary of State Madelaine Albright
    will respond harshly, the weekly concludes.


    NASA BORBA: COVIC SUPPORTS STUDENT DEMANDS

    At a recent session of the SPS Executive Board, Belgrade Mayor
    Nebojsa Covic openly stated that he supports the student demands,
    the daily Nasa Borba learned today from sources close to the
    ruling party. Some of the members of the board demanded that Covic
    deny press rumors of his intent to resign as mayor. Refusing to do
    this, even if it damaged the party's reputation, Covic said:
    ``I've kept silent for 50 days, believing that those [members of
    the SPS] who have mismanaged these elections will come to their
    senses and try to revoke the decisions that have provoked the
    situation we are now facing in all major cities in Serbia.''  He
    reaffirmed that he will continue to support the demands of the
    students ``who are the only honest party in the foul game around
    the elections.''  He ended his address with a roll-call of the
    names of SPS officials whom he had already asked to reexamine
    their actions, since these have done great damage to the SPS and
    the Serbian President at home and abroad. The session then ended,
    with some of the members of the board leaving in protest, while
    others remained to express their support for Covic's demands that
    the situation in their party be finally cleared up, reports Nasa
    Borba.


    KOSTUNICA: DANGER OF HALFWAY MEASURES

    Leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) told a press
    conference today that it would be dangerous if the opposition
    accepted any halfway measures or any partial concessions offered
    by the regime. He explained that most of the demonstrators were
    not on the streets because of the electoral theft itself but
    because of the lack of democracy in Serbia. He observed that the
    OSCE report ``gave Milosevic a second chance'' since it let his
    ballot theft in the federal and local elections pass. He pointed
    out that the OSCE evaluation and its judgment on the federal
    elections were made without a review of the electoral materials.
    ``The regime cheated in the federal elections as well, only its
    method was different: more double-crossing took place before
    rather than after the [federal] elections,'' said Kostunica. With
    regard to the recent explosion at JUL's Belgrade headquarters,
    Kostunica said he believed it was a matter of political
    provocation meant to cause violence in Serbia.


    MICUNOVIC: CONCERN OVER ``AUTISTIC'' AUTHORITIES

    At a press conference today, leader of the Democratic Center
    Party, Dragoljub Micunovic blamed the authorities for generating
    the present political crisis in Serbia. He said the authorities
    must implement the OSCE recommendations and call a panel that will
    include members from all parliamentary parties. He noted that even
    in the Socialist ranks there have been demands urging such
    actions.


    RESIGNATION OF DIRECTOR OF THE NIS CLINIC CENTER

    Director of the Nis Clinic Center, Branislav Tiodorovic handed in
    his resignation today. As his reasons, he cited material and other
    problems at the Center which he has been unable to resolve and
    rejected any connection between his resignation and the current
    political situation in Nis. He blamed the highest level of the
    Serbian government as the chief culprits in the failure of the Nis
    Clinic Center. Tiodorovic was a Socialist candidate in the local
    elections whom the Nis Electoral Commission. He withdrew his
    candidacy in the third round of the local elections because of the
    very poor voter support he had received in the previous two
    rounds.

    Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
    Edited by: Vaska Andjelkovic (Tumir)

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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