BELGRADE, April 13 (Hina) - A former Yugoslav president and leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), Vojislav Kostunica, on Sunday accused the Serbian government of imposing "one-tack politics and a single-party system and
smothering Serbia's political life", and called for an early election.
BELGRADE, April 13 (Hina) - A former Yugoslav president and leader
of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), Vojislav Kostunica, on
Sunday accused the Serbian government of imposing "one-tack
politics and a single-party system and smothering Serbia's
political life", and called for an early election. #L#
Kostunica also levelled accusations against the government's
Communications Office, stating it was "manipulating the media".
Speaking at a session of a high body of his party in Belgrade,
Kostunica urged calling an early parliamentary election in Serbia
and stressed that his party would "internationalise the violation
of European standards" in Serbia.
"This is no longer only about the DSS being threatened and exposed
to fierce attacks via the media, but about human and democratic
freedoms being threatened and one-track politics and a single-
party system being re-introduced. The DSS does advocate the fight
against crime, but we are against the tragic murder of Zoran
Djindjic turning into the fight against political opponents,"
Kostunica said.
He explicitly accused the Democratic Party of the assassinated
Serbian premier of "being in the vanguard, as once was the
omnipresent Communist Party".
Commenting on the ruling DOS coalition, Kostunica said that it had
taken over the role of "the People's Front from 1945".
Several days ago, Kostunica's associates, Rade Bulatovic, his
advisor on national security, and Aleksandar Tomic, a former head
of the Yugoslav Army's intelligence, were arrested. They are
suspected of having had frequent meetings with Milorad Lukovic
Legija, the principal suspect in Djindjic's murder. The meetings
were reportedly arranged by Borislav Mikelic.
Serbian government officials last week accused the parties of the
so-called patriotic bloc, which, according to some, also includes
Kostunica's DSS, of having directly assisted in Djindjic's murder
or indirectly helped create an atmosphere in which his
assassination was possible. In that context they mentioned
Kostunica's refusal to replace, after October 5, 2000 and in his
capacity as Yugoslavia's president, Radomir Markovic, a former
head of the Serbian Interior Ministry's intelligence service, and
Nebojsa Pavkovic, a former Yugoslav Army Chief-of-Staff.
(hina) rml