Former president [Milosevic] advises voters to elect ultranationalist presidential candidate

AP via Yahoo ^ | Aug. 12, 2002

[bob808]

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - Writing from his prison cell at the U.N. jail in the Netherlands, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has urged Serbs to vote for an ultranationalist candidate in upcoming presidential elections, a party official said Monday.

Zoran Andjelkovic, a top-ranking official of the Socialist Party of Serbia, said that in a "handwritten fax message" Milosevic advised his supporters to vote for ultranationalist leader Vojislav Seselj "as their joint presidential candidate."

Earlier this month, Seselj's Serbian Radical Party nominated their chief for the post of Serbian president.

Seselj declared his main objective was to beat Yugoslavia's deputy prime minister, Miroljub Labus, a popular economist also running for president.

Milosevic is now on trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.

"With this letter, Milosevic has officially withdrawn his candidacy, and the Socialist Party's main board will decide about further steps," Andjelkovic said.

Milosevic's Socialists had earlier proposed three candidates, including Milosevic himself. But Serbia's election commission rejected Milosevic's candidacy, saying he had already served the maximum two terms as Serbia's president before becoming federal president in 1997.

[bob808]

Interesting... Anybody think this is going to pose a problem for Kostunica?

[bob808]

Your thoughts...?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Banat]

Well, this may be a problem for Dr K because they sort of have similar 'audience'. However, I don't think Koshtunitsa would suffer any serious losses because the voters have recognized him and his party as serious people doing serious work. Seshelj is spent. I don't know how many more people would really give him their support and expect him to deliver. He's just a clown. He spends way too much time trying to amuse the voters into supporting him than he does addressing crucial issues. I do like to read what he has to say (can't watch him in Canada) because he's not a moron. He has some really valid points but I don't think he's serious about anything anymore.

As I've said - he's spent and the ideas he's promoting are spent. People have other things to worry about -- employment, miserable pensions and salaries, crime, corruption, etc...

Koshtunitsa is the guy who leads a truly conservative party, which is ready and willing to get down to business. I expect him to win in the second round by a landslide.

[Voronin]

This would be good for Dr.K. both domestically and internationally. At home, he can pose as something entirely unrelated to Milosevic pluz most people are tired of the likes of Shashav. Abroad, where Dr.K is regularly desribed as a 'Serbian Nationalist' etc., his spokesmen could always say, 'maybe you would prefer Sheshelj?'. Dr.K is flanked, one side by Shashav (seen as a Milo stoogie) and Djuke 'the Hazzard', patsy of the West.

VRN

[ovrtaxt]

Im an outsider here, but I hope whoever gets elected will continue the resistance to Islamic immigration. (That's about the depth of my knowledge of Serbia.)

[Tamodaleko]

do we have vooch now endorsing Seselj as well?

All I can say is, if Seselj gets elected, Serbia will finally choose a Prez with the finest and richest vocabulary of popular swears that would blossom Serbian vulgarity and pave a smooth hwy w/o speed limits future of Serbia to abyss.

There are plenty of votes to be collected of course, but I sincerely doubt Seselj makes 2nd round.

Cheers!

[Banat]

I wouldn't mind the vocabulary. I just don't want him anywhere near 6 King Milan St. I mean, he had his chances and he failed to do anything. In 1993, he was so strong, he could've blown Miloshevich and the rest of his gang to pieces. He chose servitude. He's a typical demagogue. He IS very interesting to listen to and watch, but he's not my choice. Not in a million years.

Djindjich is hardly better -- Sheshelj minus the colourful language.

Labus is nothing but a Djindjich stooge (same thing as the Miloshevich/Milutinovich duo).

All these other candidates are a joke. As it is, Serbia has 3 candidates so far: Labus, Sheshelj and Pelevich (Serbian Unity Party). Drashkovich is hunting for the 10,000 signatures. The sorry Christian Democrats will probably put forward Mrs. Kostich. Then there's Ilich of the New Serbia. Geez, there will be at least 10 candidates!

Some call it democracy, I call it lunacy. These elections shouldn't have been called in the first place.

And don't think that Djindjich won't try to hijack the elections. There are loads of irregularities and loopholes. The elections are held under the 1990 Constitution, which even prohibits private ownership! A new Constitution could've been drafted (as it was promised!!!), but the DOS oligarchs had better things to do. Now we're holding the elections by the rules drawn up by some Commies 12 years ago.

What Serbia needs are PARLIAMENTARY and local, not presidential elections.

[smokegenerator]

Hands down, SUP...:)

[Destro]

My only concern as an American is the wrongs my nation has done to all the Yugoslav people of whatever nationality or creed. That includes the imposition of the UN War Crimes Kangaroo Court which every American should be against on principal (since our tax dollars and gotvt are supporting it). The domestic politics of Yugoslavs or Serbs or whoever is of no concern of mine nor do I have a right to voice an opinion on the matter.

[Tamodaleko]

Still waiting for VK's formal candidacy.

[smokegenerator]

I am waiting for that opportunist Milan Panic to spring back to YU. I am sure he will if given massive tax breaks here and abroad if he became public figure once again.