YU/SERBIA ONE YEAR LATER - REFORMS STILL AT THE VERY BEGINNING

BELGRADE, Oct 5 (Hina) - One year after the fall of the Milosevic regime, the situation in Yugoslavia/Serbia can be described as "everything's the same except he (Milosevic) is gone." Admittedly, one "breathes more easily" and the country has been readmitted to all major international political and financial institutions, regional initiatives and professional associations over the past year. The first year of the rule of the heterogeneous 18-member DOS coalition was marked by the arrest and hand-over of Slobodan Milosevic to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, but no other progress has been made despite the piling-up of indictments against persons who should answer for crimes. An open strife among DOS leaders, primarily between the conservative nationalist, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, and pragmatic Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic has been significantly stalling the promised reform which started energetically immediately after October 5 last year. The strife has been going on for more than two months, with serious accusations being exchanged, but it is visible that efforts are being made to keep any kind of "unity, despite differences". As time passes, it is more and more obvious the 'first round' has been finished and elections on all levels are in sight. The election means the break-up of the coalition, but this, both Kostunica and Djindjic believe, will be preceded by a vote on the new constitutions of Serbia and Yugoslavia - if the latter survives. Kotunica's desperate efforts to redefine relations in the federation and start discussing the future of the federation with Montenegro have yielded no results this year. Kostunica has been pressing the Serbian government for months for answers as to what it has done to combat crime, how far privatisation and economic reform have progressed, and why the living standards have remained at the same low level despite huge international donations. Serbian Premier Djindjic has been countering Kostunica's questions with a set of his own - what has Kostunica done for the federal state, at what stage are talks on the redefinition of the federation, why have the same people remained in the military, and what happened to a commission for truth and reconciliation, which met only once since its establishment early this year. Questions keep piling up on both sides. Meanwhile, statistical experts have established that economic and political reforms one year later are still at the very beginning. The same people who served Milosevic are still holding senior positions in the army. The situation is similar in many ministries, there have been no "personnel purges" in the state apparatus. Laws on the army and police, courts and judges, public prosecution, the penal code and the law on criminal proceedings as well as laws on universities, local self-government and elections, public information, etc. have not been adopted. Belgrade sociologists and law experts say the results of the ruling coalition on the whole are negative. Numerous polls conducted ahead of the first anniversary of the incumbent government show that the living standards of as many as 80% of Serbian citizens are the same or worse, while only 10% live better. The polls have also shown that despite the poor performance, the DOS coalition still enjoys the support of some 50 percent of the electorate. According to the polls, should the DOS fall apart and elections be called, Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia would win 26%, Djindjic's Democratic Party 17%, Milosevic's Socialists 8 and Vojislav Seselj's Radicals 6.5% of the vote. (hina) rml