Agence France-Presse
November 14, 2003
SERBIAN PRESS ANNOUNCE DEATH OF DOS GOVERNMENT
Belgrade, Nov 14 (AFP) - The Serbian press sounded the death knell for the
ruling DOS coalition on Friday after early parliamentary elections were
called for next month to end a stifling political crisis.
The influential Politika daily said the once-mighty DOS, the main political
force behind the ouster of former nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic
three years ago, had no hope of surviving the December 28 ballot.
"This is practically the end of DOS. Many had predicted a quicker end to
this coalition especially because it never really got over its internal
issues, " Politika wrote in an editorial.
"It started with a huge majority, with 176 members of parliament (out of
250), and they have ended in the minority."
Acting President Natasa Micic on Thursday granted the government's request
to dissolve parliament and call elections a year ahead of schedule.
The government of Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic has been fighting for its
political survival for weeks, having effectively lost its parliamentary
majority and its ability to push through reforms.
Leading opposition groups such as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and
the G17 Plus accuse the government of widespread corruption and abuse of
power, leaking scandal after scandal to the media in recent weeks.
But DOS was dealt a possibly fatal blow in March when its former leader
and prime minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated by a mafia sniper on the
steps of the government building in downtown Belgrade.
Djindjic was an unpopular but highly motivated leader who took up the reform
banner after Milosevic's nationalist regime fell in a popular uprising in
October 2000, and the coalition was unable to replace him.
DOS officially stands for Democratic Opposition of Serbia, a name coined
during the Milosevic years of the 1990s when democrats saw little chance of
forming a government themselves.
Politika said DOS was a "victorious concept of 18 parties" which was wrecked
by internal bickering and the defections of major partners, notably the DSS
of former Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica.
"Originally the two leaders, Djindjic and Kostunica, agreed that DOS was a
coalition with one aim - to oust Milosevic -- and that it would dismantle
after it had laid the foundation for a new society," the daily wrote.
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Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
