http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022300664.html
Serbia, paralyzed by Kosovo, may face new election By Beti Bilandzic Reuters Friday, February 23, 2007; 10:12 AM BELGRADE (Reuters) - Coalition talks are going nowhere following Serbia's inconclusive election on January 21 and there may have to be a re-run of the ballot this summer, as the issue of breakaway Kosovo province dominates political life. Major parties have held just one round of fruitless meetings with President Boris Tadic and have since not been able even to schedule new talks, let alone forge a coalition deal. "It would be irresponsible for negotiations to be going on in Vienna (on Kosovo) while we are busy forming a government," said Dusan Prorokovic of caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). Talks on the last phase of U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan for Kosovo, which would set the Albanian-majority province on a path to independence later this year, started in Vienna this week and are expected to continue to early March. Kostunica has made himself champion of a last-ditch bid to block independence and preserve Serbia from the loss of 15 percent of its territory, relying on backing from ally Russia, which could veto the plan at the U.N. Security Council. The West, which intervened militarily in 1999 to end a separatist war in the province and expel Serb forces, backs independence for Kosovars and could recognize their state even if no U.N. resolution is adopted. Some parties privately accept Kosovo may be a lost cause but they glossed over their differences briefly last week to unite behind a parliamentary resolution opposing independence. But it was a one-off meeting and the assembly was adjourned indefinitely, pending agreement on a government. Under the constitution, a government must be formed within 90 days of the convening of the new parliament, otherwise a new election must be held. The deadline is now mid-May. The hardline Radical Party came first in Jan 21 election but with 28 percent of the vote cannot get together a majority. The pro-Western parties of Tadic and Kostunica are most likely to form the next government, but agreement on terms is by no means a simple matter between them. Tadic's Democratic Party says it should form the government and wants its candidate Bozidar Djelic to be prime minister. The DSS wants Kostunica to stay on as prime minister. NO COMPROMISE "There is an impression the DSS is using talks on Kosovo as an excuse to stall and that is the reason why there are still no serious talks on the government," Djelic told Blic daily. "The Democratic Party expects a signal from other parties of the democratic bloc, especially the DSS, that they are ready... to start serious talks," Djelic said. But he said his party was not ready to abandon its claim to the prime minister's post, even if it means a fresh election. "The DS (Democrats) is ready for new elections. We will not back down. Our party is decisive in defending not me as an individual but normal principles of democracy according to which the party that won most votes gets the post of prime minister," he said. Tadic's Democrats actually came second behind the ultranationalist Radicals with 23 percent of the vote, but no one -- even Radicals leader Tomislav Nikolic -- expects the biggest party to be able to form a coalition government. +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/hOt0.A/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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