SERBIA: Serbia adopts its first constitution of post-Milosevic era

Serbs adopted their first constitution of the post-Milosevic era on Sunday (October 29), clearing the decks for an early general election expected by the end of the year. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who propelled the bill through parliament, said it marked "a new start for Serbia", the republic at the heart of the socialist Yugoslav federation until it was torn apart by war fomented in Belgrade. "Serbia is stronger with the constitution. With a constitution that clearly says that it is a democratic state ruled by law, a constitution which by invoking international law reaffirms that Kosovo is part of Serbia. The constitution which brings a great number of new solutions when it comes to economic relations allowing faster economic development of Serbia and better life in Serbia," said the reformist leader, who took over when strongman Slobodan Milosevic was ousted in 2000. The respected national polling organisation CESID said 51.4 percent of the 6.6 million electorate approved the constitution in a two-day referendum that was saved by a last-minute surge to the polls, pushing turnout over the 50 percent minimum. Kostunica called the turnout more than satisfying. But critics said it highlighted how remote constitutional law was from the bread-and-butter concerns of most people in Serbia, now last in the Balkan queue to join the European Union. Serbia's break with the Milosevic era was stalled when Kostunica's conservative, nationalist sentiments created a rift in the pro-Western reform movement with then prime minister Zoran Djindjic, who was assassinated in March 2003. The country's path to EU membership was blocked by Brussels in May over its failure to arrest top war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander wanted for the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim captives in the summer of 1995. With no love lost, Djindjic's successors nevertheless made common cause with Kostunica this month to get the constitution cleared, so each can vie for power in what is likely to be a three-way struggle with the ultranationalist Radical Party. Elections are likely to be a topic of discussion among the main parties on Monday. A special session of parliament could be held on Nov. 5, and a date might finally be set then. Speculation has centred on Dec. 17 or Dec. 24. But the Milosevic legacy continues to dog the country. Kostunica said Serbs backed the constitution's affirmation that the breakaway province of Kosovo, which Milosevic lost to NATO, is an "inalienable" part of sovereign Serbia and must not get independence, as its Albanian majority demands. Claiming the legal high ground where Milosevic lost the moral high ground, he said: "By defending Kosovo we are defending more than our own interest and more that the issue of stability and piece in the region, we are defending international law." Kosovo Albanians, who lost 10,000 dead in the 1998-99 insurgency, were not on the voting lists and ignored the referendum. Albanian commentators said it was further proof that Serbia wants to keep the land, but not the people living on it. Serb critics said the Kosovo clause was simply a fig leaf to help leaders duck responsibility for its impending loss. The United States, which led NATO into Kosovo in 1999 and favours its independence, has said the clause on Kosovo will have no impact on a decision on the province's status. But it appears increasingly likely that the U.N. decision will now be delayed until a new government sits in Belgrade. Kostunica and his pro-Western rival, President Boris Tadic, both hope for a strong grip on the next parliament, to counter constant pressure from the ultranationalist Radical Party. "This is a really very important moment for our country making distance from the Milosevic period. I think that we are creating a better future for Serbia today," Tadic told Reuters. "I am expecting next elections that is going to be after this constitution referendum, and also I am expecting to form after these elections very strong democratic majority in our parliament and democratic government which is going to lead Serbia towards European Union." Kosovo's minority Serbs celebrated in the streets on Sunday after the constitution was adopted. Overall turnout was higher in Serb-populated parts of Kosovo. "The last report from 1800 tells us that more than 75 percent of the electorate turned out," said Vidan Ristovic, presiding over the vote in Gracanica, a Serb enclave in the municipality of Pristina. As horns sounded in celebration on Gracanica's main street, security guard Boban Sekulic welcomed the result. "Especially for Kosovo, it's good that it will stay within the borders of Serbia, as it was before," he said. "I hope it's going to be better that there won't be an independent Kosovo," said another young man. But for one woman, there was no cause for celebration. "We are not tailoring the plan, it's America who does that. They don't listen to you or to me. This is a big farce," she said. Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority ignored the vote, saying it made no difference to their demand for independence. "Kosovo was never and will never be (part of Serbia). More chance it will be part of a bigger Albania. They can say whatever they want. If this misfortune happens, blood will be shed again," said Pristina resident Arben Xhafolli, who said he had fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army during the war in the late 1990s. "I think that Kosovo belongs to Albanians. This is over for them. We defeated them, in every way," said an elderly woman in Pristina. In the divided Kosovo city of Mitrovica, Serbs gathered at the bridge connecting the Serb and ethnic Albanian parts of the city, setting off fireworks, waving Serb flags and chanting nationalist slogans at their neighbours. "This referendum is especially for Kosovo being within the borders of Serbia," said Kosovo Serb leader Milan Ivanovic. "That's why the turnout was over 90 percent, because people understood that this is about staying and surviving within the state of Serbia."

ITN Source | October 30, 2006

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