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The weekly Koha (The T imes) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. E dited by VetonSurroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Y ugoslavia, Koha

soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the

name of Koha Ditor. With the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on

http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.

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Koha Digest # 149

Front Page: BERISHA, THE ELECTORAL BREAKING POINT

Date: 19 May 1997

EDITORIAL

THE STATUS-QUO SCENARIO

by VETON SURROI

The effect of the internal Albanian political crises is the same as that of the rain in the heat: it

refreshes for a moment, it creates the illusion that the temperature has finally stabilized and

then the same rhythm of heat continues.

So it happened with the created problem about elections: once proclaimed, the postponement

was reported by the press, it eventually was mentioned in a branch of a party and more or less

was put in the drawer of oblivion.

In fact, something of the kind could have been expected. The Kosovar political rhythm

doesn't tolerate since long ago, since 1991, an abrupt and unexpected movement. In the

eventual scenarios of political developments, the Kosovar conflict enters the category of the

stalling, for years, of stuck positions of the opposing parties, waiting for a foreign power to

unexpectedly force the opposing party to change it's position. Moreover, the status-quo

creates such an atmosphere among the opposing sides, that any initiative is experienced bythe parties as dangerous for the stability reached by force. Just let's remember the agreement

on education, which was not applied, among others, because the Serbian party would live it as

a loss of the reached stable position. In these days of heat, at the eve of the dead political

summer season, one must remember that autumn is no more promising when it comes to the

political movements.

The party that must move, the Serb, has only one thing in the list of its priorities, to survive in

power. The Serbian president, since long ago, sees as his main task the maintenance of power,

whatever it may be like, including the future elections and new positioning in the so called

Yugoslav federation. In these conditions, the Kosovar experience shows that not many can

have any influence in the movements about and around Kosova.

Even more having in mind the complex game of the former Spanish premier, Gonzales, in his

mission about the electoral crisis in Serbia, when he showed the Serbian president how deep

can the external intervention be in the "internal political scene". When OSCE, for example,

can be that critical about some local elections, the Serbian leader can think, what is it capable

of doing about the dramatically bad situation in Kosova?

Chances are that the Serbian president will have plenty of time to think about this issue.

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ALBANIA

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

by ARTAN PUTO / Tirana

On 16 May, early in the morning, at around 4 o'clock, the Albanian

parliament adopted the new Electoral Law, which will serve as basis

for the new elections, planned for 29 June.

The Albanian Parliament dominated by the Democratic Party, adopted

this law, while MPs of the opposition parties abandoned the

parliament.

During these weeks, the DP and opposition parties had a debate, on

the nature of the electoral law. DP wants a mainly majority law,similar to the one that gave it a victory on the elections of 26

May, last year. On the other hand, the opposition parties want a

law that will have broad proportional elements, in order to make it

possible for the small parties to enter the parliament.

On 9 May, with help from OSCE's special envoy to Albania, Franz

Vranitzky, parties reached an agreement for the adoption of a

combined law. This means they agreed on a new law that stands

between the '92 variant and the '96 variant.

But, on 13 May, the Albanian Parliament approved a law, which was

actually only a proposal of the DP. Then, on that day, the

opposition parties declared that they will boycott the new

elections planned for June. On 15 May, one day before the expiry

date of the Electoral Law, following long talks, former Austrian

chancellor, Franz Vranitzky, managed to convince DP to reconsider

the law, to make some amendments and to accept and discuss the new

draft electoral law, approved by the Government of National

Reconciliation. On this day, the Albanian prime minister, Bashkim

Fino, said he will go himself to the parliament to present his

Electoral Law. But, in the parliament, the Democrats decided todiscuss only the draft-law presented two days earlier, taking in

consideration some changes proposed by president Sali Berisha.

These proposals have to do with decreasing the level of the

electoral limit from 3% in the first draft, to 2%. Sources from the

DP claim that this will enable small parties to enter the next

Albanian parliament.

In the meantime, Bashkim Fino, the parliamentarian group of the

Socialist Party and three other opposition parties, including the

Party of the Unity for Human Rights, the Republican Party, BalliKombtar, 14 MPs who left the DP and now are members of a new

party, and the Movement for Democracy abandoned the session as soon

as it became clear that only DP's draft was going to be discussed.

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Therefore the Electoral Law was adopted by the votes of the

Democrats, who have 80% of the seats in parliament.

In the morning of 16 May, DP's chairman, Tritan Shehu, said that

this law had been largely improved, especially following theproposals made by president Berisha, and according to him this law

takes into consideration the changes proposed by all parties and

also suggestions made by Vranitzky. "We have reduced the electoral

limit to two per cent and we have added some proportional elements,

in order to help small parties. I don't know why other parties left

the parliament hall, but I do know that we are respecting the rules

of the game, as set in the talks we had with Franz Vranitzky", says

Shehu.

The president of the Socialist parliamentarian group, Namik Dokle,

after leaving the session, said that they made it clear that theelections should be held according to a law proposed by Government

and approved by the consensus of all parties. Nothing else can

guarantee free and fair elections. In these conditions we won't

participate in the elections, he said.

Other parties left the parliament too. On the day the law was being

approved, a meeting was set to be held in Vlor, where some

opposition parties and members of the Forum for Democracy were

invited. According to the political contract signed with Vranitzky

on 9 May, the committees should have dissolved today. But the badpolitical situation in Tirana and failing to achieve a consensus on

the Electoral Law makes this objective less likely to happen. Franz

Vranitzky, said he alone couldn't make any positive changes in his

talks, although he invited president Berisha and prime minister

Fino to have another meeting where they would solve their

misunderstandings.

He also said that he will report to the EU governments on the

situation in Albania, because, "they have the moral right to know

about the situation in Albania, since many funds for the

restructuring of the country are being raised. Yesterday, on apress briefing, Vranitzky said that if an agreement is not reached

within two days, then his mission will be jeopardized. But, he also

said he would not resign and that he will keep on working on the

Albanian question.

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ALBANIA

BERISHA AGAINST THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE MULTINATIONAL FORCE IN

THE ELECTIONS

by MANJOLA TERSHANA / Tirana

Two gangs exchanged fire on 14 May, in the center of Vlor, early

in the morning. The Italian soldiers, part of the multinational

force shot in the air in order to stop further violence. On this

occasion, two gang members were shot dead.

Although gun fire is quite normal, especially in the southern parts

of Albania, multinational troops are not intervening since their

mandate does not allow this. A debate is running in Albania on the

need of the interference of the multinational force in these cases.Many political parties ask for a broader mandate of the

multinational force.

A reason for this statement was the pronunciation of the Italian

Defence Minister, Andreata, who said that troops will stand by

polling stations in order to secure free and fair elections in

Albania. This stand was also backed by Franz Vranitzky, during his

last stay in Albania. The involvement of the multinational force in

the electoral campaign is a request that prime minister Fino is

going to make to the United Nations.

In the meantime, the Commander of "Alba" in Albania, General

Forlani said that in case that the help of his troops is requested

in the electoral process, he is ready to provide it. "It depends on

the mandate that we are given, there is no problem as far as we are

concerned."

Opposition parties dispute the law presented by DP. The

parliamentarian session in which the electoral law was supposed to

be discussed was delayed, because the opposition refused to

participate in the voting procedure. The reason was that the draftdidn't come from the government, but from DP's parliamentarian group.

On 9 May, political parties reached an agreement on the Electoral

Law, similar to the '92 solution. Suddenly this law was not

presented by the government but by the Democratic Party.

This was the reason why the Socialist parliamentarian group,

republicans and MPs of the Human Right Party, were not present in

the session. They left it, in a sign of a public protest.

While leaving the session, the chairman of the HRP, Vasil Melo,

said: "I cannot stay here. Democrats can vote pro if they wish".The Republican Party said that it will also boycott the elections

if the agreement reached with Vranitzky is not respected.

Democrats say that the law was presented by them, since Fino's

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government didn't present it's draft to the parliament. But,

opposition parties seem to be determined to not vote for the

project presented by DP.

In these conditions the Albanian parliament found itself facing adilemma. The question is: will the Democrats use their power of

vote or will they wait for the vote of other parties participating

in the parliament?

ALBANIA

9 MARCH - RECONCILIATION OR REVENGE

by ARTAN PUTO / Tirana

KOHA: You were against the agreement of 9 March. Are you still

thinking the same?

LUBONJA: Today there is plenty of talk about the agreement of 9

March. Some consider it as grounds for the restructuring of

Albania. Fino calls the government that came from it, "the last

chance" for Albania. The West, when judging the Albanian crisis,

considers it as the only point of reference. But, what is this

agreement in essence? According to Berisha and some members of theopposition, it was constructed over one "great moral act": national

reconciliation. Even the government of coalition, formed a few days

later and which should make the preparations for the free and fair

elections was named accordingly. But, it wasn't very clear what

kind of reconciliation was this: was it a reconciliation between

former persecutors and those who were persecuted; between Berisha

and the people of the South; or a reconciliation between ruling

party and the opposition. Nobody asked the harmed, the persecuted

or the people from the South whether they agree to reconciliate. In

the best case, this could be the reconciliation of some

politicians. On the next day, as it is known, an order came fromthe top and the ammunition warehouses were opened in the North and

in Tirana, where there were no anti-government riots. A TV crew,

nobody knows how, found itself on the spot and filmed the

plundering of weapons in one village of Tropoj, and the people

waving arms against the South. Foreign medias started to talk about

an Albanian civil war of the North against the South. Instead,

anarchy spread all across the country. Albanians that had no motive

to kill each other plundered the ammunition depots and took

everything they found there. Armed men rushed towards the prisons

and freed all the prisoners, among whom were 700 jailed for murder.The number of those killed in two days was more than 200, and

thousands were wounded. The gangs started looting. So, the economic

and political insurrection of the South was absorbed by the chaos

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that spread all across the country. People rushed onto the ports

and a new exodus started. In that moment, western countries with

the persistence of Italy, decided to give a positive answer to the

request for sending their troops, that was first made by President

Berisha, later accepted by the political parties and formalised bythe government of reconciliation. This was an immediate result of

the agreement of 9 March. Therefore, while reconciliation was

reached on the scene, a government of the coalition was formed and

the elections were assured, a civil war was being prepared in the

background. There was anarchy and foreign troops were called in.

This was the peak of Berisha's policy "abyss calls an abyss". In my

opinion, on 9 March, Albania fell deeper in the abyss.

KOHA: Do you think that the members of the opposition were naive,

didn't understand that they were giving Berisha "the hand of God" -

as he called the idea of the Government of Reconciliation?

LUBONJA: I think that they thought that he was weak, and above all,

that he couldn't be that irrational to do what he did - to order

the opening of the ammunition depots, what was equal to the

destruction of Albania. It is understood that "the hand of God"

didn't come to Berisha, it was rather the hand of the Devil,

because this led to the worst scenarios in Albania, perhaps worse

than those from the times of Enver Hoxha. How can be something that

killed hundreds of Albanians, that made them become preys of

criminals, that forced them into the Adriatic sea were lot of themfound only death, be called "the hand of God". From that day

Albanians are continuously being killed and it is hard to believe

that for a long time they will live in peace. The fall of the

pyramid schemes is a children's game compared to what was done by

the fall of the state.

KOHA: Do you think that even the Forum for Democracy lost it's

strength after 9 March?

LUBONJA: It cannot be ignored that after 9 March, the centre of

action of the Albanian opposition was shifted from the Forum intothe offices of Fino and Berisha. I think that this was not positive

thing to happen. Forum for Democracy was an effort for the

emancipation of Albanian politics. With it, I understood two

things: first, for the first time political parties of the left and

right sat together, putting national interests above their parties'

interests, and second, a positive outcome of this would be gaining

the respect for each other, that would build the grounds for future

coalitions, and also for the coexistence in the Parliament, based

on dialogue and not confrontation.

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From this point of view, the behavior of each political party would

be important also for the political future of Albania and for the

real national reconciliation. This would be especially important,

because in the past, our people have been disappointed with the

politicians. I am saying that people needed to have faith inpoliticians. The elimination of the Forum disillusioned many of

them. Historically, all the agreements between Albanians failed,

because in all cases, one side had invalidated the agreement, and,

step by step, had eliminated the others.

What can I say about the agreement of 9 March?

Vranitzky said that this was the first time such an accurate

agreement was reached, he even called it "a new invention". Only

two days later, the Parliament approved a partial Electoral Law,

and it came out that all of this was only a new invention in theByzantine manoeuvres of Berisha.

An agreement as that of 9 March, leaves space for different

interpretations, and this will be used by the Parliament controlled

by Berisha. Also, the agreement doesn't foresee the demanded

changes in RTV and "SHIK" (National Intelligence Service). The

truth is that this agreement is only the scene of the Albanian

politics. The question is what is happening in the background,

where the fate of the nation is actually decided? Albania is still

crowded with Berisha's gangs, criminal gangs and it's people arefully armed and they won't give the weapons back until they see

that Berisha left the political scene. I think that the Government

of reconciliation remains being that of cease-fire; and the day of

elections risks to become a night of conflicts. All this is

happening because this politics is grounded on false

reconciliation, that was agreed without even mentioning the word

justice, and without asking forgiveness from any side.

KOHA: But, can we hope for a reconciliation in the future?

LUBONJA: This is the main problem in Albania. Albania reacheseither false reconciliations or revenges. If justice is not met,

especially when crime is still fresh, the evil will always remain

inside. A nation that was looted and killed cannot reconciliate

with those who committed these crimes. This would be a disgrace for

the whole nation. The best would be, as Qosja said in an interview

for BBC, if Berisha and people like him disappear for good in the

blackness of political oblivion.

KOHA: From what is seen on TV, it seems that right now, Berisha's

only ally is King Leka Zogu. How do you explain this?

LUBONJA: This proves that Berisha is ready to use all means and

every kind of allies to stay in power. A few years ago, Berisha

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didn't allow King Zogu to come to Albania. Perhaps, Berisha

considers him to be out of this conflict and out of the hatred he

feels towards other politicians. But, I think that it is not good

to hold a referendum together with the elections. For this kind of

referendum, it is necessarily to have a calm situation, a situationin which Albanians could think and judge better whether they want

a monarchy or a republic. I'm afraid that Berisha could use King

Leka in his efforts to divide the North and South.

KOHA: How do you perceive the attitude of the West towards all what

is happening in Albania?

LUBONJA: When Western countries decided to send troops into

Albania, the chaos in the country was caused by the armed people in

the south, by Berisha's gangs, different criminal gangs and the

paralysed police. The best way to come out of this situation wouldbe the resignation of Berisha. This would bring good things

immediately. His gangs would lose motivation and would disappear,

people in the South would give in their arms. Following this, the

elimination of criminal gangs would be much easier. But this would

not guarantee the immediate stop of the exodus of Albanians into

Italy, that has caused a political crisis there. Therefore a

military mission was needed. And, it was necessary to insist that

Albanians were not able to do it on their own, that they were

starving, as the Italian foreign minister insisted. When we speak

about the West, we must say that Albania was unfortunate to betaken care of by Italy, a country with a huge political

instability. On the other side, the foreign factor is of a

secondary importance in deciding the fate of the country.

KOHA: So, you are not very positive about the military

intervention?

LUBONJA: A few weeks after the arrival of the international troops,

Albania still has Berisha's gangs, criminal gangs, an armed nation

that is asking the resignation of Berisha, and has no police.

Another eight armies were added to those forces, and looks thatthey are not doing much, not just in preventing the killing,

assassinations, the fights, but also in preventing the exodus.

Albanians compare this time with the times of World War I, when our

difficultly created country became a crossroad for different

armies. This is the biggest offence for our national dignity and is

more despairing when we recall that the protests of January-

February 1997 could have succeeded to overthrow a dictatorial

regime. A smart and disinterested European hand could have helped

Albania more than the presence of armed troops.

KOHA: How do you think that the conflict will be solved?

LUBONJA: Only the Western intervention has stopped Berisha so far.

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But, the worst thing is that he plays two cards: one in the scene

and another on the backstage. He does not realize that he is

fighting his people. And, I think that it is very hard to deal with

somebody that is more an object of psychiatry or justice. Perhaps

the situation could be solved with more patience, with an increasedintervention of Europe, or perhaps with more courage. But, with

politically incriminated people, it is very unlikely to find a

solution.

KOHA: How do you judge the attitude of Prishtin towards the events

in Albania?

LUBONJA: It is understandable that the medias in Kosova maintain a

distance toward the events in Albania. But, I don't think it should

be so. If Albanians in Kosova really love Albania, they must

"touch" the situation, make mature evaluations and help inresolving the crisis. It is embarrassing that some see in Berisha

a symbol of the nation, same as they used to do with Enver Hoxha in

the past.

KOSOVA

THE RETURN OF UK

by YLBER HYSA / Prishtin

After a pause, it seems like the Liberation Army of Kosova (UK) is appearing on the

political scene again. Apparently this pause was caused by the Albanian crisis and the

destabilization of the country. But, after an action in Drenic, and, especially after UK

people decided to talk to The New York Times, the publics attention was again

redrawn on them.

In fact, appearing in a prestigious newspaper such as The New York Times, marks a

new phase in the organizations political appearance, which this time chooses a

concrete communication form with the public, moreover, a worldwide public. It can besaid that UK, starting from anonymity and deep conspiracy, by further perpetrating

some armed attacks in order to finally come our with political statements, now seems to

have found a form of communication with the public through the international media.

Within three years, the Serbian regime in Kosova will be destroyed- is Albans

analysis as stated in The New York Times and this, besides being an analysis, seems

to eventually mark the organizations stand to continue its activities.

This promise came only after a group of people whom the Serbian authorities in Kosova

accuses of belonging to the organization, were captured, arrested and are soon

expected to face trial. Moreover, this argument was used even from senior Serbianpolice authorities, in order to show their successful work. On 13 May (Security Day),

the new police chief, Stoiljkovic, stated that the main achievement of the police, as

evaluated by the minister, was the capturing of Albanian terrorists in Kosova.

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Same as Stoiljkovic, Prishtin's police chief, Keric, counted the capture of the group

that "they believe is connected to UK and whose trial will begin soon", as their

greatest success. In fact, the previously captured group was merged with the group of

five, which according to Serbian police authorities, operated close to the Prishtin

region. The captured group was shown on the main TV news broadcast, besidesweapons and different explosive devices. The trial against the whole group of the

arrested and accused of terrorism in Kosova, has been already announced.

The present increased Serbian police activity and the pronouncement of the high

officials of the Serbian Ministry of Interior has, with no doubts, political marketing

purposes, which is utmost necessary in electoral times. Moreover, waving with this

joker is necessary for both the domestic and international public, which is supposed to

prove how the Serbian regime has everything under control, including Kosova.

And, right now, at the time of these Serbian efforts, UK appears in public, through a

prestigious newspaper to which it's members sketch a symbolic drawing with the blue

marker that shows the Serbian regime in Kosova as an empty box that will be hit bythem and will be destroyed within three years. The Albanian emigrantwho was

wearing jeans and looked ordinary, but who has spent a long time in Serbian jails and

who is one of the most wanted terrorists in Yugoslavia, said to The New York Times

journalist, that UK is not IRA nor is it the Basque movement. Were not a terrorist

organization. We only attack the representatives of Serbian regime. We target the

secret police, the Albanian collaborationists that cooperate with the Serbian regime.

But, the thing stated in the newspaper and that is worth mentioning again is that this

organization is leaning on 700.000 Albanian emigrants in the West. It is also very much

worth mentioning their evaluation that Kosova is at the edge of a guerrilla war, and

that this situation is a result of having ignored the Kosova issue in Dayton, as statesthe newspaper.

The thing that proves that the problem won't remain within media, is the writing of a

senior American diplomat, who has read the agencys information claiming that it was

not accurate. Even though the information is considered as such, this doesnt

necessarily dodge the worldwide political circles interests for a phenomena such as is

the UK in Kosova. In the highly tense situation in Kosova, UK doesnt only interest

the Serbian police, but it seems like it interests some important world political factors.

Especially if the drawing with the blue marker is at least a bit true.

So, UK, and anybody else doing similar things, will not remain only a Serbian orAlbanian electoral marketing issue...

KOSOVA

COURTS AS POLITICAL MARKETING

by GJERAQINA TUHINA / Prishtin

Eighteen Albanians, (two of them in absence), will be facing

trial at the Regional Court of Prishtin, on Monday, 19 May. All

of them were arrested during the January/February police

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campaign, when over 60 people accused of anti-governmental

activities were placed behind the bars, according to police

sources.

Eighteen of them are accused of, as attorney Fazli Balaj says,Association for committing hostile activities", (Art. 136),

meaning that they were making preparations to make Kosova an

independent state and consequently unite it with Albania. They

are also charged with Art. 125, accused of terrorism, according

to which they made preparations to do terrorist attacks. The rest

of people are accused of being members of this group.

There are no proofs for these allegations, same as for the rest

of political trials. But, it seems like this will pass too,

because as Balaj says, some of the accused admitted the facts

and circumstances, which will be used by the prosecutor as proofthat corroborates the existence of the criminal act they are

accused of. According to these statements, there are no elements

for accusation, because according to the lawyers, this

accusation incriminates the freedom of speech, the free political

will of the accused to have Kosova become an independent state or

to become unified with Albania. In fact, it is the right of each

citizen to feel or act this way, but using no violence. One of

the incriminating elements is the publication of a leaflet called

lirimi (Liberation), which is, according to the accusation, a

vital part of the illegal organization, the LKK ("NationalMovement for the Liberation of Kosova"). For the public

prosecutor, this also counts as proof of the committed crime.

But, the defense considers this unacceptable, because as Balaj

puts it, there are many other ordinary texts published and these

texts can be found published in the other media in Kosova and

abroad. The freedom of expression through media cant be

incriminated because, says Balaj, since the times of the Romanic

law, it is well known that governments and leadership cant be

overthrown by words or newspapers, but only with the use of force

and violence, and in this case there was no violence nor force

used.

"We are again facing a `prefabricated political trial'", is a

statement that the defense is backing with the fact that the

police has applied violence on the accused, in order to come to

the self-incriminating statements they subsequently signed.

The use of violence, say the defenders, was confirmed by the

prison doctor and these facts shouldnt be ignored. This even

means that there is insistence to create a hostile group,

independently from that fact that the actual Serbian laws

decisively state that the plea of guilt caused by the use offorce cant be taken as proof.

But, apparently the use of violence is nowadays a part of

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investigation procedures against Albanians in Kosova. The

chairperson of the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade, Natasa

Kandic, stated that Following an extensive report on human

rights violations, a commander of a police station wrote us a

letter in which he says that the use of violence duringinterrogations will continue and that all secessionists will be

further tortured.

The new trial of the eighteen accused, is considered by the

Albanian political subjects as a political frame-up. The

Association of Political Prisoners, considers that the trial is

a political prefabrication and full disrespect of the freedom of

speech, as the chairman of APP's informing commission, Bedri

Halimi, would say.

This association has made a call to the EU and the USA, to usetheir mechanisms and monitor this trial and thus get acquainted

with the reality more closely. Even president Rugova asked for

the framed-up trials to be stopped, saying that , they make

the situation in Kosova even more difficult.

The Albanian political side has insisted continuously on the

monitoring of the trial. Such a request was addressed to the UN

rapporteur on human rights in the Former Yugoslavia, Elisabeth

Rehn, whose office has promised that their monitoring officers

will attend the trial.

Anyhow, this lawsuit will become part of a series of the big

trials that have characterized Kosova's reality in the past

years. According to the CDHRF in Prishtin, hundreds have been

sentenced to many years behind bars and around 100 who were

arrested on political charges, are suffering in Kosovar and

Serbian jails. According to some information, living conditions

in prison are extremely difficult.

It seems that this trial is just the beginning of the reprise

of the past years. The Albanian side claims that this usuallyhappens during the most delicate times when the solution of the

Kosova issue is discussed. It is also said that the trials are,

in most of the cases, in function of the political marketing of

the actual regime. As attorney Balaj would say, the law here

only exists to assure the prosecutors and the governments

allegations.

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SERBIA

SERBIA - REPUBLIC OR MONARCHY?

by TEOFIL PANCIC / AIM / Belgrade

Fifty six years after the King of Yugoslavia, Petar

Karadjordjevic I fled to London just before the attack of

Hitler's bombers, the restoration of monarchy has reached the

Serbian political agenda again.

After the war, communists prohibited the return of the king and

his family, they confiscated his property and proclaimed the

republic.

Since the multi-party system was introduced in post-communistSerbia, the political force that nourished the image of the

monarchy was the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO). The strength and

the weakness of this large opposition party relied on the idea to

rehabilitate Draza Mihajlovic's Ravnagora movement, as an

antifascist guerilla that fought on the side of the (Western)

allies and on the program of restoration of royalism. Thus, SPO

attracted a number of Serbs who had for years been feeling as

losers and victims in front of God's justice, and who had always

considered partisans and the communist authorities as usurpers.

At the same time, such an ichnography of the SPO and the image ofit's charismatic leader Vuk Draskovic, was repudiated by most of

the Serbs that were against the restoration of the monarchy. In

this way, this party has always been "the biggest opposition

party in Serbia (and their leaders don't mind repeating this),

but with the "introduced mistake" of it's ichnographic-ideologic

rigidity and devolution which didn't allow it to gain more

supporters and win the majority in Serbia.

Normally, without winning the majority, there are no changes in

power, without changes of power, there are no changes of the

political system, without the change of the system, Serbia willremain the autistic island in the Europe which is being

built...and so it goes rolling, and the regime wisely identifies

the Serbian opposition with the (lardy and beardy) SPO, and any

kind of change in the conscience of the voters is liquidated once

a question is put - Sloba is not good for you, but, do you want

Vuk to come to power?

Vuk Draskovic, even though he will never admit it, was aware of

his image. This is why since the horrendous defeat that SPO

suffered in 1990, he always appeared in the following electionsin coalitions, trying to amortize the image of SPO created by the

regime's propaganda and the endless mistakes of the proper SPO.

"ZAJEDNO", without any doubt, was the best combination of the

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opposition in the Serbian post-communist elections that achieved,

despite the bad results in the federal elections last autumn, the

victory in all major towns and thus open the path for the

republican parliamentary and presidential elections. The "Yellow

Revolution", organized by the opposition and the impressiveperformance of the civic and pro-European Serbia, for the first

time gave the impression that the democratic opposition of

Serbia, identified as "Zajedno", could put in trouble the

personal rule of Slobodan Milosevic. The fraud gave wings to the

opposition, and for the first time, Milosevic found himself in

more serious troubles.

When he finally understood that the theft must be emended, the

rule made itself a big service - faced with the victory, the

opposition tactically didn't know what to do with it and how to

protect "the minimal unity of actions".

The old conflicts of the SPO and Democratic Party (DS), and

especially between their leaders Vuk Draskovic and Zoran

Djindjic, emanated once more with full intensity, as soon as the

demonstrations were over. The biggest obstacle was the "creative"

agreement of the coalition partners on the share of posts

following the (eventual) victory in the republican elections -

which implied that the candidate for President should be proposed

by SPO, the prime-minister by DS, and the chairman of the Serbian

parliament by the Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS). Normally, SPOnominated Vuk Draskovic, for president, but the coalition

partners didn't seem to be delighted. Now, SPO is feeling hurt

because of the "betrayal" of the partners, which seems to be

true. However, Djindjic has a very strong counter-argument: "We

need a candidate who could win the elections, and it is not

likely that Draskovic, who is satanised, is the right person - we

don't want to go into defeat just to preserve the coalition".

SPO has no rational answer to this argument, that is why in the

past weeks it returned to its "grassroots", and the story about

the return of the Karadjordjevic, the rehabilitation of the

Ravnagora movement and the vulgar anticommunist movement which,because it lacks statal power, spends it's energy on changing the

names of the streets and other manifestations of revenge.

The story about the return of Serbia under the rule of the

monarchy, could seem as the best way to move away from the

Communist past. However, it is also important that it is not

supported by most of the Serbs.

It is true, as monarchists claim, that the European monarchies

are rich and developed, but it is also true that the monarchy isrelated to continuity and once it is replaced by the republic, it

has almost no chances to return. Thinking that they are fighting

the consequences of the Bolshevik revolution, they are really

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fighting against French revolution. Also it is true, that the

communist historiography has destroyed many aspects of the

Ravnagora movement during World War II, but serious politicians

should take into consideration the long-term indoctrination by

Bulajic's films, even when the images don't have much in commonwith the always disputable historical truth. The differences

between coalition partners are increasing as the elections

approach. The collapse of the coalition is very likely to happen.

New links could be created. In this situation, SPO can expect a

kind of isolation, which would split the opposition in two parts -

SPO against all the others. This would be a favorable solution

for the regime, while Vuk Draskovic's party will continue its

course in the shining path, to which Draskovic's wife Danica

referred to as: "We will keep losing, until it becomes

monotonous".

The members of opposition say that the defeat of the opposition

should become monotonous to the losers and not the winners. In

other words, the "Chetniks" and romantic neo-monarchists are the

best pre-electoral gift, which will help the actual regime to

remain in power, until deep into the third millennium.

MONTENEGRO

THE PRESIDENT'S FROZEN SMILE

by HAXHI SHABANI / Ulqin

In times when the session of the Parliament was supposed to seal

the political end of premier Djukanovic, a surprising turn

happened and now the end of president of Montenegro, Bulatovic,

is being awaited. Compromise seems impossible to reach.

The reason for the changes within the Montenegrin political scene

is the change in the relation of forces between the two

protagonists. Thus, president Bulatovic who was known as aneloquent politician with a rich political terminology, quite

persuasive at first sight, has quite changed now. In his

appearances, especially in front of TV cameras, he has lost the

characteristic sweet smile he once possessed; the presidents

smile has frozen. The reason is big.

Known as a devotee to Milosevic, he could not obey his last

orders "to strike down the tall man from Niksic", the president

of the government called Milo Djukanovic. He tried to accomplish

this by accusing the government state organs; pressing criminalcharges on officials; through the Main Board of the ruling DPS,

but his efforts were in vane. Even his two main allies seem to

have turned their back on him. The first is the party's Central

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Council, that decided to reconfirm Djukanovic in the post of

vice-chairman of the party. The second one is his tutor,

Milosevic, who has so far, met several times with Djukanovic, and

who is now seldom talking with Bulatovic even on the phone; not

surprising, for no one likes the weak. And what about theMontenegrin parliament, is it going to help Bulatovic? There are

no encouraging signs for that. The source of all his hopes, could

easily be the source of his disappointment, because a Montenegrin

president is not supported by the state institutions.

On the other hand, Montenegro's prime-minister, as opposed to

the frozen smile president, has proved to be very capable and

concrete. In the internal plane, he controls all major

ministries, like the Ministry of Interior and that of Finances,

etc... He is otherwise known as an enthusiast of illegal

trading, which said in other words means that he is rich. He,according to our sources, in one of the many meetings of the

party, said to his opponents: I have been feeding you for six

years now, what else do you want from me?. Considering his

external relations, he has made three spectacular visits. His

short visits to Slovakia, Greece and Great Britain, have been

very fruitful and have ensured Montenegro a loan of several

hundred million dollars. Even his position in regard to the media

in the country and abroad, has been modern.

Another factor that could somewhat affect the solution of theturmoil by compromise, that now seems difficult, is the Speaker

of the Montenegrin Parliament, Svetozar Marovic. He publicly

favors the prime minister, but known as an intellectual that

deals with politics, he could make the extreme solutions

relative. By calling the parliamentary session at short notice,

and not discussing "the reconstruction of the government", he has

amortized Bulatovic's offensive.

Anyhow, the possible interpretation of the Government

reconstruction, is that the appointing will not be done according

to Bulatovic (read Milosevic), but according to Djukanovic (asalso ascertained by the Constitutional court).

Last but not least, is that people support Djukanovic, and

surveys prove this. Just think of the loans. In the meantime, the

only possible political way out for him is to escape to the

federal organs, which still isn't sure, because Milosevic, is

very angry at him, for his failure in Montenegro's political

scene. Even the last appearances of these two politicians on TV,

give the impression that the prime minister is definitively

defeating the president.