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Bosnian Serbs Struggle in Peacetime
By KATARINA KRATOVAC
.c The Associated Press
PALE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - In this mountain hamlet from where Radovan Karadzic once waged war, Bosnian Serbs are struggling to deal with the aftermath of peace.
The Serbs of Pale were throwing their support to nationalists like those of their former leader's party in Bosnian elections Saturday. But mired in poverty and stymied by a lack of opportunity, they were paying only lip service to the nationalist ideology.
What they talked about instead was finding jobs, putting food on the table - and finally getting past the economic limbo that settled over the area after the end of the 1992-1995 war.
``I don't think these elections will change anything,'' said Branislav Tesanovic, 35. ``When I wake up tomorrow, I still won't have a job. How am I to feed my kids?''
Tesanovic, who still wears the stained blue overalls from his factory days, and many others are disillusioned, unsure how to bring out the change that many so desperately crave.
The average monthly pay equals $70 - about three times less than in Sarajevo, a little more than 10 miles away. The cost of feeding a family of four is more than twice that amount - about $150. Most people simply don't pay the electricity bill.
The once prosperous Famos engines and military factory that employed 5,000 people is at a standstill. Few companies have expressed any interest in investment, scared off by the region's reputation and its history of being a seat of Serb nationalism.
What is certain is that the elections won't change the political mood. Only parties that espouse the strong nationalism that helped lead the region into war are on the ballot. Karadzic's hard-line national Serb Democratic Party is favored.
Although Karadzic - once the president of the Bosnian Serbs - has long gone underground to evade a handover to the U.N. tribunal that indicted him for genocide and war crimes in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, his spirit hovers over his former stronghold.
Pale's 17,000 residents, for example, treat Karadzic's wife, Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, with respect bordering on reverence.
When she appeared at her polling station, a line of voters parted to allow Zelen-Karadzic to pass, her long black cape flowing behind her. When asked why voters support her and her husband's party, she shook her head.
``I can't explain why,'' Zelen-Karadzic said. ``You should ask the voters that.''
Even if there were other options, many said they would still vote for the same old leaders.
When national television carried a video message from Secretary of State Colin Powell to the nation, urging voters to drop the policy of ethnic divisions and back reforms, Pale's Serbs ignored him - and took offense.
``Who is he (Powell) to tell me how to vote,'' said Aleksandar Cicovic, 35. ``Not a chance.''
Others said they were voting out of habit, even on the slim hope that things would improve.
Take Radojka Teletina, 48, lost her husband in the war. Her pension is late - by five months. She has nothing else to live on.
``Whoever comes to power,'' Teletina said. ``I just hope life will get better.''
Ljuba Ostojic and her husband, Novak, trekked up snow-dotted Mt. Jahorina to vote at a polling station close to the refugee shelter they have called home since 1995. To this couple in their mid-70s, peace meant having to accept that their son, Ljubisa, missing since the war, is likely dead.
He would have been 49 on Saturday, his mother said.
``For us, there is not much to hope for,'' Ljuba Ostojic said. ``But for other people's children, I can still hope.''
10/05/02 14:42 EDT
Hard-Liners Gain in Bosnia Elections
By SUSANNA LOOF
.c The Associated Press
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Nationalists made strong gains in Bosnia's first elections organized without Western help since the end of the 1992-95 war, according to partial preliminary results late Sunday.
The election commission said no races had been decided by Sunday night. It was unclear when complete preliminary results would be released.
Saturday's poll was a key test whether Bosnia's Muslims, Serbs and Croats could run their own affairs, and international observers said it adhered to international standards.
The West has warned that its support and foreign aid could be endangered if the winners were nationalists who espouse the same policies that sparked Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II. More than 260,000 people were killed.
But partial, preliminary results indicated that hard-liners and nationalists would gain top positions.
A Serb nationalist, Mirko Sarovic, was poised to win the Serb spot on Bosnia's three-member multiethnic presidency. With 77 percent of the vote in that race tallied, he had won 38 percent. A reformist candidate had 25 percent of the vote.
Dragan Covic of the nationalist Croat Democratic Union was in a clear lead for the Croat presidency position with 65 percent of the vote. Korac did not say what percentage of ballots had been tallied in that race.
The race for the Muslim position was uncertain. With 69 percent of ballots counted, Sulejman Tihic was ahead with 28 percent, while the more reformist candidate Haris Silajdzic had 26 percent.
Bosnia is made up of two mini-states, the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb republic. Federation voters elect 28 representatives to the national parliament's 42-member lower house, with Serb voters choosing the rest.
In the federation, the centrist, Muslim ethnic Party for Democratic Action led the national parliament race with 33 percent of the vote. The nationalist Croat Democratic Union followed with 19 percent after two-thirds of ballots had been counted.
The Social Democratic Party - which had led the multiethnic, reformist ruling coalition in power for the past two years - was third with 14 percent.
In the Serb republic, voters favored the hardline Serb Democratic Party, which had 37 percent of the vote after 70 percent of ballots had been tallied. The moderate Party of Independent Social Democrats was second with 29 percent.
Hardline parties also made strong gains in local assemblies in the Muslim-Croat federation, and a Serb hard-liner lead the race for president of the Serb republic.
Reformists pushed nationalists into opposition in the 2000 elections, but their nationalist rivals have since made gains playing on Bosnians' disappointment over their economic woes. Unemployment hits 60 percent in the most impoverished areas, and the average monthly paycheck equals $250.
Paddy Ashdown, the top international official who ultimately runs Bosnia, cautioned earlier Sunday against interpreting a potential nationalist comeback as a wish to return to the divisive past.
``Do not mistake inevitable dissatisfaction with the last government for a desire to return to the nationalism of 10 years ago,'' he said.
All parties included reforms in their platforms, he noted.
``Saying it is one thing, delivering it is another. But (reform) was the subject of this election. Not nationalism,'' he said.
Ashdown said the poll was free and fair, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it largely met international standards. No violence was reported.
``These elections mark important progress toward the consolidation of democracy and rule of law under domestic control,'' said Pieter de Crem, a leader of the OSCE's observing mission.
Turnout was nearly 55 percent - the lowest since the end of the war.
More than 7,000 candidates from 57 parties and nine coalitions ran for seats on national, regional and local assemblies and positions in the three-member multiethnic presidency.
Official results were expected Oct. 22. Forming a ruling coalition could take several more weeks.
10/06/02 19:09 EDT
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