SERBIA: Serbs begin voting in two-day referendum on a new constitution that declares the breakaway province of Kosovo to be forever a part of Serbia

Serbs began voting on Saturday (October 28) in a two-day referendum on a new constitution that declares the breakaway province of Kosovo to be forever part of Serbia. Some 100,000 Serbs are still living in the province, which has been ruled by the United Nations since NATO bombs drove out Serb forces in 1999. The ballot is Serbia's first attempt to replace a 1990 constitution adopted under the late President Slobodan Milosevic. It won rare consensus across the political spectrum mainly because it enshrines Kosovo as an inalienable part of Serbia, a last-minute manoeuvre as the renegade province moves towards independence. All mainstream parties were campaigning to get voters out, with only some fringe liberal parties boycotting against a draft they say is vague and more nationalist than Milosevic's version. The government garnered crucial support by agreeing to the opposition's wish for early elections, likely in December. Many Serbs suspect the new constitution -- a product of political horse-trading never put to public debate -- can change little that matters, and cannot prevent Kosovo's 90 percent Albanian majority from getting the independence it demands. However, they may turn out in sufficient numbers, if only to show Europe they care. "We should vote for the new constitution since it will be better for all of us including Kosovo and Metohija," said one voter in Belgrade, Dragica Savic, after casting her vote in the early morning. In Gracanica, one of Pristina's few Serb-dominated areas, pensioner Sveto Dimitrijevic said Kosovo has historically always been part of Serbia. "Everybody who remained here, (in Kosovo) and I hope also those who left, think that Kosovo should be Serbian, because Kosovo was always Serbian," he said. Another voter in Gracanica, Nenad Nikolic, described how he voted in favour of the constitution. "For a constitution, of course. For a better tomorrow, because the constitution states once and for all that Kosovo is part of Mother Serbia," he said. Ironically, Kosovo's two million Albanians - who have long boycotted any ballot organised by Serbian authorities - have not been invited to vote on the grounds that the province is under U.N. supervision and they would ignore it anyway. Newspaper front pages largely ignored the referendum and many ethnic Albanians dismiss the constitution as inconsequential for their future. "It has no grounds because now and forever Kosovo is lost to Serbia," said Sabit Jaha in Pristina. "This is a lie that Serbs are telling themselves," said Nazmi Gjonbalaj, a Kosovo Albanian. Major Western powers, who unsheathed NATO might for the first time in 1999 to compel Milosevic to withdraw his army from Kosovo, are in favour of giving ethnic Albanians the independence they want, since forcing them back into Belgrade's embrace is impossible. Among its 200 articles, the draft constitution on Kosovo envisages more guarantees of minority and human rights. "I hope that we are going to adopt the new constitution. This is very important for us, especially regarding last constitution. We are trying to make some break from the Milosevic period and this is from my point of view very, very important. At the same time we have better conditions for protection of all national minorities and generally speaking this constitution is much better than previous," Serbian President Boris Tadic said after casting his vote. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica urged a Yes in this weekend's vote, saying Kosovo was at the heart of Serbian statehood. "With the new constitution, Serbia is once again showing its devotion to the international law. I am talking, of course, about Kosovo and Metohija which is not only integral part of Serbia from the historical point of view, or our local (domestic) law, but based on the international law as well," Kostunica said after casting his vote. Meanwhile, a few hundred Belgraders joined the boycott of the referendum initiative launched by the small liberal parties. Citizens were urged to sign The Charter of Freedom which in a ten-point plan defines freedom, none of which, according to the liberal party leaders, is mentioned in the draft of the new constitution. Politicians and activists of parties against the constitution have criticised the hasty drafting of it and the lack of public discussion. They pointed out that it is vague on minority rights and its definition of Serbia as the country of the Serbs and others, and is more nationalist than the Milosevic constitution. Cedomir Jovanovic, leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party and former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, said that the proposed constitution is a big step backwards and a very poor message, which says that our society is incapable of defining its vision. "In this moment clearly we can say that referendum procedure is completely unacceptable, non-democratic without any rules and election and referendum laws," Jovanovic said while leading the referendum boycott gathering in downtown Belgrade. "Well, this is in a very relaxed atmosphere here in the very center of Belgrade. We are trying to encourage people to express their position on this new constitution. Of course we think that the whole procedure, the way the government tried to introduce this new constitution has been shameful, undemocratic, and of course we are for the boycott," Zarko Korac, leader of the Social-Democratic Union, another small party supporting the boycott, said. The Liberal-Democratic Party, Liberal Alliance of Vojvodina and the Citizens Alliance of Serbia reportedly have agreed on joint participation in Serbia's upcoming parliamentary elections but boycotting the referendum. The referendum needs 50 percent of the 6.6 million electorate to vote Yes to pass. An opinion poll this week showed 49 percent of respondents planned to vote, although many suspected the new constitution -- a product of political horse-trading never put to public debate -- would change little and have no impact on Kosovo's fate.

ITN Source | October 28, 2006

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