[ALBSA-Info] Opposition sees Yugoslav poll court ruling as trick

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Opposition sees Yugoslav poll court ruling as trick

By Philippa Fletcher

BELGRADE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court said it had 
annulled part of the presidential election which the opposition has accused 
President Slobodan Milosevic of rigging, in what his rival said was a trick 
to gain time. 

Vojislav Kostunica, who insists he defeated Milosevic outright at the 
September 24 poll, said he feared the court ruling, announced briefly late on 
Wednesday, might be a trap. 

``At first glance it might look like a concession by Slobodan Milosevic, but 
I am afraid that it's a question of a big trap and so there's no need to be 
euphoric,'' Kostunica told the independent Beta news agency. 

Kostunica, a constitutional lawyer, said he had not seen the original of the 
court's decision, which was announced in a brief report by the state news 
agency Tanjug. 

``In any case, I think that Milosevic is weaker than ever today, which is 
evident from the fact that he must use various tricks to gain time,'' he 
said. 

The ruling came in response to a complaint by the opposition, which says the 
vote was rigged to rob Kostunica of a first round victory. 

Legal experts said it was not clear if it meant a recount -- what the 
opposition wants -- or a rerun of the whole vote. 

Zoran Djindjic, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said he had 
information that the decision actually meant the annulment of the entire 
first round, which the authorities would try to rerun in a few months' time. 

He did not say where the information came from. 

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE CAMPAIGN 

The opposition launched a country-wide civil disobedience campaign this week 
to try to force Milosevic to back down and at the same time lodged a 
complaint with the Constitutional Court -- the legal body of last appeal -- 
on Monday. 

The deadline for the court to rule was 48 hours after the opposition 
complaint was lodged but it was not immediately clear at what time the 
complaint actually reached the court. 

The opposition has called on people from all over Serbia to come to Belgrade 
on Thursday to put pressure on the authorities. 

Tanjug said the details of the decision would be published on Thursday. Some 
opposition activists said they thought the authorities were waiting to see 
how many people turned up at the demonstration before deciding what to do. 

Earlier on Wednesday the court had held what it called a public debate with 
opposition representatives, who said court representatives had been very 
polite and had given them some of the controversial voting records they had 
sought. 

``The Federal Constitutional Court, after a public debate, unanimously 
decided...to annul a part of the election procedure for the election of the 
president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which relates to voting, 
establishing and publishing results of the ballot from September 24, 2000,'' 
Tanjug said. 

Djindjic said the ruling meant the authorities, who are under pressure from 
the protest campaign, would declare the whole election invalid and crack down 
on any protests. 

``According to the information I have they annulled the first round,'' 
Djindjic told Reuters Television News. 

``Now they are trying to annul the whole thing and have elections in two or 
three months and in the meantime excercise repression against all these 
people who are part of the protests and strikes,'' he said. 

Tanjug said the court's decision was still being written and could be 
expected to be published in detail on Thursday. 

``Then all details of the unanimous decision will be known.'' 

Djordje Mamula, from the party led by Milosevic challenger Vojislav 
Kostunica, said it looked deliberately ambiguous. 

``They are buying time because there is a possibility that the entire 
presidential vote will be postponed,'' he said. 

Dragor Hibir, who was at one point on the Federal Electoral Commission as an 
opposition representative, said it could mean any one of three things. 

``It could mean cancelling the first round, cancelling part of the vote in 
Kosovo, or only be related to the work of the Federal Electoral Commission.'' 

Nenad Milic, the head of the opposition bloc's legal team, said the complaint 
it had lodged with the court concerned the results from the two towns where 
votes from the province of Kosovo -- now under international control -- were 
counted. 

The opposition also complained about the decision to hold a runoff vote 
between Milosevic and Kostunica on October 8. The opposition insists 
Kostunica won outright in the first round. 

Milic stressed that they had not asked for a revote.