Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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      ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

      Odraz B92 vesti (by 9 PM), April 13, 1997

      E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
   5  WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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      All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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      C O N T E N T S
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      NEWS BY 9 PM

        UN Extends Polls in Eastern Slavonia . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
        Electoral Irregularities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
        Elections Peaceful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
  15    Djindjic Seeks Extension of Zajedno  . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
        Draskovic to Veto Djindjic Proposal  . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
        Covic Supports Strong Opposition Bloc  . . . . . . . . . . .  90
        Pope in Sarajevo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
        Krajisnik Meets Pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

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      NEWS BY 9 PM
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      UN EXTENDS POLLS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

      UN representatives announced on Sunday evening that voters in
  25  Eastern Slavonia would be permitted to cast their votes on Monday.
      This decisions came after irregularities and chaos which led to a
      late opening of polling stations in the region.


      ELECTORAL IRREGULARITIES

      Poor preparations and irregular procedures caused chaos in Eastern
  30  Slavonia's elections on Sunday. By 9.30 am, 71 polling stations
      had not opened. Many stations lacked polling boxes and registers
      and large number of electors were denied votes because they were
      not registered. Early in the afternoon, Transitional Administrator
      Jacques Klein announced that any citizen with Croatian papers
  35  should be permitted to vote, regardless of whether their name
      appeared on the registers.


      ELECTIONS PEACEFUL

      Croat Electoral Commission chief, Ivan Mrkonjic said on Sunday
      that the elections were proceeding without incident, according to
  40  Croat state newsagency Hina.

      Casting his vote in Zagreb, President Franjo Tudjman said that the
      elections were important as they were nation-wide and would be
      followed by the reintegration of Eastern Slavonia into Croatia.

      Public attention is also focused on elections for Zagreb's City
  45  Council, which has been held by the opposition since 1995, and on
      the Upper House of the Croatian Government, where the ruling
      Croatian Democratic Union currently holds only 38 of the 63 seats.
      The elections are seen as a test for President Tudjman, who is
      expected to seek a third term in the presidential elections later
  50  this year.


      DJINDJIC SEEKS EXTENSION OF ZAJEDNO

      Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic said on Sunday that he
      would propose that the Zajedno coalition be extended to include
      other political parties and all democratic forces in Serbia. Dr
  55  Djindjic also said that he would invite former Yugoslav Prime
      Minister Milan Panic, and former Socialist Mayor of Belgrade
      Nebojsa Covic to join the coalition.

      Dr Djindjic said that the extension of the coalition was aimed at
      solving the internal crisis, adding that that crisis had not
  60  arisen from personal conflict in the coalition. Dr Djindjic also
      rejected reports in the Belgrade press that the Democratic Party
      planned to leave Zajedno.

      ``We see the solution to the crisis in two actions. The first
      would be extending the base of the coalition, and the second in
  65  including the democratic public and all those structures which
      carried the protest into their staff and policy-making,'' said Dr
      Djindjic, adding that these should include the University, the
      Church and independent intellectuals. ``All parties belonging to
      the democratic opposition should be invited to join the coalition,
  70  with the exception of the Radical Party,'' said Dr Djindjic, who
      also stressed that he would back Vuk Draskovic's candidacy for
      president, if this were the will of the majority.


      DRASKOVIC TO VETO DJINDJIC PROPOSAL

      Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic on Sunday said that
  75  Monday's meeting of the Zajedno council was to solve problems
      within the coalition and would not include any discussion on the
      extension of the coalition. He said that the Zajedno leaders had
      previously agreed that there would be no extension of the
      coalition, because this would destabilise, rather than strengthen
  80  Zajedno.

      Mr Draskovic accused Dr Djindjic's Democratic party of causing the
      problems in the coalition by breaching agreements among the
      parties. Mr Draskovic said that his party on Monday would call for
      a reaffirmation of all coalition agreements, and that anyone who
  85  balked at this would have to take responsibility for the
      consequences.

      Mr Draskovic added that the Zajedno council reached decisions by
      consensus, so that if one party opposed the extension of the
      coalition, the issue would not be discussed.


  90  COVIC SUPPORTS STRONG OPPOSITION BLOC

      Former top Socialist official Nebojsa Covic on Sunday said that
      the unity of the democratic opposition in Serbia was crucial for
      its victory in this year's parliamentary and presidential
      elections. He said that this unity was also vital for the
  95  obtaining of fair election conditions, stressing that the unified
      opposition should focus its efforts on establishing these.
      Commenting on Zoran Djindjic's initiative, Mr Covic said that the
      unification of the democratic opposition in the campaign against
      the ruling Socialists would be one of the guiding principles of
 100  the party he was forming.


      POPE IN SARAJEVO

      The head of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II, celebrated
      Mass at the Kosevo Stadium in Sarajevo with some 40,000 people on
      Sunday. Before the Mass, the Pope met with the members of the
 105  Bosnian Presidency and other state officials, as well as with
      dignitaries of all four religions in Bosnia-Herzegovina.


      KRAJISNIK MEETS POPE

      The Republika Srpska representative on the Bosnian Presidency,
      Momcilo Krajisnik said after his meeting with the Pope on Sunday
 110  that the meeting was justified as a demonstration of Republika
      Srpska's salute to any message of peace. Mr Krajisnik said that he
      had told the Pope that the political hunt for alleged war
      criminals should be replaced by a policy of reconciliation and
      forgiveness.

 115  Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic
      Edited by: Steve Agnew

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