TADIC

TADIC'S CALL ON SERBS TO VOTE IN KOSOVO ELECTIONS SPARKS BACKLASH
Various Agencies - October 5-6, 2004

KOSOVO SERB BISHOP SEES PRESIDENT'S PRO-ELECTIONS STAND AS TREASON
FoNet - October 6, 2004

Gracanica, 6 October: Raska-Prizren Bishop Artemije has sent an open letter to Serbian President Boris Tadic, stating that the appeal (Tadic sent yesterday) to Kosovo Serbs to participate in the (October provincial) elections can be compared to the outbreak of violence in the province this March.

Bishop Artemije said that Serbs had faced a pogrom then, and were now facing treason by "the president of their mother-country", whose appeal to participate in the elections "has brought unrest to everyone's heart, divisions and rifts in the Serb people".

According to Bishop Artemije, Tadic's appeal to participate in the elections was "an expected, yet a very painful blow".

Artemije sees Tadic's decision to send the appeal from Belgrade as a shameful move.

Bishop Artemije said that Serbs had sent a message to Tadic a week ago, asking him to send his appeal in Kosovo, "looking people in the eyes".

"You said several days ago that you would never sign the independence of Kosovo. Maybe you will not, because no-one will ask you to. But you will surely contribute to it happening through your actions and work, above all your gesture today, just as your predecessors in that positions did," Bishop Artemije wrote to Tadic.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0858 gmt 6 Oct 04

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Under 10 per cent of Kosovo Serbs will vote, Serbian analysts say
BKTV - October 6, 2004, Wednesday

Presenter Even after Serbian President Boris Tadic appealed to them to participate in the Kosovo provincial elections, fewer than 10 per cent of Kosovo Serbs will cast their votes on 23 October, a survey carried out by BKTV has shown.

Correspondent Bojan Bozovic reports from Kosovska Mitrovica If we take into consideration that the Serbian Radical Party SRS is the most popular party in Kosovo, with 60 70 per cent of the electorate supporting it, while the Democratic Party of Serbia DSS and the Socialist Party of Serbia SPS have the support of 7 10 per cent of voters each, and that these parties will boycott the elections, then it is logical to wonder who will vote in the elections.

Analysts warn that fewer than 10 per cent of Kosovo Serbs will cast their votes.

Tadic won as little as 10 per cent of votes in Kosovo-Metohija in the last presidential elections in June this year . But if we know that the DS supporters are divided into several groups and that some of them will not vote, then, supported by the Serbian Renewal Movement SPO and sections of the Serb Return Coalition, Tadic can expect to be supported by around 10 per cent of Kosovo Serbs.

Analysts also agree that President Boris Tadic's appeal to Serbs to vote and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's appeal to boycott the elections has only deepened the rift between the already-divided Kosovo Serbs.

SOURCE: BKTV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1355 gmt 6 Oct 04

Serbian Radicals set motion for recall of president over Kosovo election issue
B92 - October 6, 2004, Wednesday

Belgrade, 6 October: The Serbian Radical Party SRS has tabled a motion for the recall of President Boris Tadic in the Serbian parliament.

The motion follows Tadic's appeal to Kosovo Serbs to vote in this month's parliamentary elections in the province.

The party alleges that with this appeal the president is in violation of the constitution. Party representative Gordana Pop Lazic said this morning that she hoped other parties in the parliament would support the motion. Recall of a president requires a two-thirds majority in the parliament followed by a simple majority of the electorate. If the referendum fails, the parliament is dissolved.

SOURCE: Radio B92 text web site, Belgrade, in English 1120 gmt 6 Oct 04

HEADLINE: SERBIAN PRESIDENT'S CALL TO KOSOVO SERBS TO VOTE VIOLATES STATE INTERESTS - SPS
Beta - October 5, 2004

Belgrade, 5 October: Zoran Andjelkovic, the general secretary of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), said this evening that the call made by Serbian President Boris Tadic to the Kosovo Serbs to take part in the election there "contradicts national interests" and that it will diminish Serbia's ability to solve the problem of the province.

"This obviously shows that Tadic is discarding public opinion and the interests of the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija. This move is splitting the electorate and diminishing Serbia's strength to solve the issue of Kosovo because, if the prime minister and the president, as the two most important politicians in the country, have opposing views, then this is truly a very bad move," Andjelkovic said. (Passage omitted)

The SPS official recalled that the Serbian Assembly had unanimously endorsed a resolution on solving the problems in Kosovo-Metohija, which said that the Kosovo Serbs should not participate in the local self-rule bodies until a solution was found to the question of territorial organization and security improved for them.

"Tadic's decision is even worse than if all the state bodies and parties had decided to call on the Serbs to take part in the election. This move will have a domino effect, and could instigate further emigration and decrease the level of security for the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija," he said.

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1859 gmt 5 Oct 04

Copyright 2004 Financial Times Information
All rights reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2004 BBC Monitoring/BBC
BBC Monitoring International Reports

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