Posted on 10/14/2002 1:52:02 PM PDT by Whitebread
Kostunica Vows to Bring Down Serbia
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
14:15 ET
AP Online
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica vowed Monday to bring down Serbia's pro-Western government, a day after he failed to be elected president of the republic because of a voter boycott.
Kostunica, a moderate nationalist, won 67 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, more than twice as much as Miroljub Labus, a pro-Western deputy prime minister and an ally of Kostunica's main rival, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.
But the runoff election failed because turnout was 45.5 percent, falling short of the required 50 percent. Serbs will now have to vote again by Dec. 5, and the new election will be open to all candidates, including ultranationalist allies of former President Slobodan Milosevic, who is now on trial for war crimes.
Kostunica accused Djindjic of leading a "quiet boycott" of the elections "in order to stay in power."
During the elections, Kostunica vowed to topple Djindjic's government by calling new parliamentary elections next year if he becomes the Serbian president.
Constant bickering between Kostunica and Djindjic since they jointly ousted Milosevic in 2000 has slowed the pace of change in Serbia, impoverished by more than a decade of the former autocrat's rule.
"I want to see the end of Djindjic's regime," Kostunica said. "The political crisis has deepened."
Djindjic's Democratic Party responded by saying Kostunica should resign as Yugoslav president because he failed to be elected in the dominant Yugoslav republic.
"Kostunica campaigned by declaring that the elections will represent a popular referendum on the fate of the Serbian government and Djindjic," the party said. "Since the referendum failed, if Kostunica has morals, he would resign."
Djindjic, as prime minister, has more power than Kostunica. But Kostunica is far more popular because of his nationalist views, and his party is likely to get more votes in the eventual Serbian parliamentary elections that are likely to be held early next year. With a majority in the parliament, Kostunica's deputies can vote Djindjic's government out of power.
Zoran Stojiljkovic, a political analyst, said Djindjic stood to lose the current power struggle.
"Djindjic cannot remain in his post under any circumstance," Stojiljkovic said.
A repeat of the presidential election will give another chance at the presidency to Vojislav Seselj, an ultranationalist leader who had Milosevic's backing in the first round of voting on Sept. 29. Seselj finished third in that round and called for a boycott of the second.
On Monday, Seselj declared he felt like "a winner" because the elections failed. He vowed to hold talks with other Milosevic allies on a joint candidate for the next presidential vote.
Kostunica said that before another vote is held, new election laws should be adopted. International observers monitoring Sunday's vote agreed.
The monitors, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, suggested that the 50-percent turnout requirement should be dropped before the next vote.
"This boycott is not understandable," said Hrair Balian, a spokesman for the OSCE monitors. "The boycott was totally self-defeating for Serbia because it produced uncertainty. Serbia does not need uncertainty - it needs reforms."
Elsewhere in Europe, voter turnout in elections this year was greater, including Sweden's 79 percent and Latvia's 73 percent. Bosnia's election had 55-percent turnout.
In the United States, voter turnout in the 2000 presidential election was approximately 51 percent.
The law mandating at least 50-percent voter turnout was imposed by Milosevic in 1997 as a way to manipulate election results and invalidate a possible victory by one of his political opponents who was seeking office at the time. The law was never repealed. Serbs had plenty of reasons to boycott the vote: Many had hoped for a faster improvement in living standards after Milosevic.
Although average salaries have gone up, they have barely kept pace with soaring prices, despite the relative stability of the national currency, the dinar. Unemployment stands at a staggering 40 percent.
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