-Caveat Lector- http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20950
Editorial: Serbian impasse 10 December 2002 On Sunday, Serbians once again chose to stay at home, rather than go out and vote for a new president. Thus, as in last October, less than 50 percent of the electorate appear to have turned out. Under the Serbian Constitution, the result is again declared null and void. The word “appear” is important. Vojislav Kostunica, the current Yugoslav federal president, has cried fraud. In both October and now again on Sunday, Kostunica’s rival, Vojislav Seselja came a clear second. Nevertheless, the result does not count because half the electorate needed to vote. Kostunica and his supporters believe the reason this failed to happen is that the electoral rolls have been inflated with phony names or still contain thousands of people no longer alive. Suspicions are the greater, because it was Slobodan Milosevic, while he was still Yugoslav dictator, who put this threshold in the constitution. Vojislav Seselja is a former Milosevic ally and of the outgoing Serbian president Milan Milutinovic, who steps down next month. Once he loses his political office and thus protection, Milutinovic is slated to be extradited to The Hague where he faces war crimes charges. Behind Seselja, however, stands hawkish Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic, a bitter rival of Kostunica. As Yugoslav president, Kostunica’s present job will effectively disappear next year when the Montenegro and Serbia, the sole remaining parts of the old Yugoslavia, go their own ways in a far looser federal arrangement. Kostunica is, therefore, bidding for the Serbian presidency as a way to preserve his power base as head of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DPS) and maintain the moderate nationalist policies which have led Serbia successfully back into the international community. Kostunica refuses to accept the result. He has said that he will be calling on the international community to intervene, while trying to challenge the result in the Serbian courts, in particular the removal of expatriate Serbs from voting lists. Involving outsiders in Serbia’s internal affairs may not, however, be a good idea. Though he is clearly the more popular candidate, such a move could damage that support. Fraud is certainly a possibility but Kostunica must ask himself why, when the second vote was billed as a make-or-break event, he could still not muster a landslide of support that negated any gerrymandering by the Serbian authorities. The harsh fact is that he could not, because most Serb voters are fed up with voting and deeply cynical about all of their politicians. Kostunica may have sold himself successfully abroad. His message has not got home half so well at home, where peace has not brought employment or economic recovery. The one international intervention that might clinch a February victory for him would be a substantial international investment package, won for Serbs and Montenegrans in the closing days of his federal presidency. Such an inducement ought to have been given already. It may not be too late to rectify the omission. At present, Serbia is drifting dangerously toward political rocks. If its newfound democracy is holed, the wreck could involve not just Serbia but its neighbors as well. Email this article <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
