1:00 PM
BELGRADE - Yugoslavia took another step out of the shadow of Slobodan Milosevic when the Serbian parliament appointed a power-sharing government to run the country's dominant republic until early elections.
The new government shares power between the ousted Yugoslav president's Socialists, who dominated the old administration, and reformist allies
of his successor Vojislav Kostunica.
Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia also looked certain to be excluded from a new Yugoslav federal government.
The Yugoslav federation is composed of Serbia and much smaller Montenegro.
"At this moment...we have the position that no one from the SPS should get a seat," Zoran Zizic, the federal prime-minister designate, was quoted as saying by the Beta news agency after a meeting with Kostunica yesterday.
Forming the federal government is important to allow Yugoslavia to receive aid and conclude other international agreements with Western governments who have rushed to offer assistance since Milosevic's downfall.
The main seat of power inside the country, however, is the Serbian government, making the parliamentary decision an important advance for Kostunica and his supporters.
As part of the deal on the government, Serbian parliamentary elections will take place on December 23, when the Kostunica camp has high hopes of sweeping the Socialists from power.
The formation of the new government will be welcomed by the West, which shunned Milosevic for his role in four Balkan wars and wants to see the network of power he dominated for more than a decade dismantled as soon as possible.
Under the power-sharing deal, Socialist Milomir Minic, regarded as a relative moderate, becomes prime minister. But he can make decisions only in consensus with two deputies from groups previously in opposition.
"The time of this government is limited and so are its tasks," Minic told parliament.
"Its two main missions are to stabilize economic policy and urgently address the economic needs of the citizens."
Years of international sanctions, state mismanagement and corruption have ruined the Yugoslav economy, once fairly prosperous by Socialist standards.
Reformers said the new government was far from perfect but should at least be able to arrest Yugoslavia's decline.
"Political reason has prevailed and it's important that we now have the transitional, technical government to avoid a deeper political and economic crisis," said Dragan Veselinov, leader of one of the 19 groups which back Kostunica.
The ultra-nationalist Radical Party, junior partners in the outgoing government, staged a walkout to delay the approval of the government but were unable to prevent it. Of 136 deputies remaining in the chamber, 133 backed the new government.
Minic said Kosovo was also a priority. The province has been an international protectorate since NATO bombing last year drove out Serb forces repressing the ethnic Albanian majority.
"The government will continue its policy of protecting our people who are in many ways endangered in this province of ours," said Minic, a former federal parliament speaker, adding that a United Nations resolution on Kosovo should be strictly implemented.
Minority Serbs in Kosovo have been the victims of numerous attacks by vengeful ethnic Albanians.
Cabinet jobs were shared out among Socialists, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) bloc behind Kostunica and another ex-opposition party, the Serbian Renewal Movement.
Four key ministries - interior, finance, information and justice - will be under joint control. The Interior Ministry has an estimated 85,000 police under its command who were a key element in Milosevic's hold on power.
A parliament spokesman said the new government would ask Serbian President Milan Milutinovic to dissolve the assembly. After his order, expected Wednesday, the parliamentary president would officially call elections for December 23.
- REUTERS
Herald Online feature: Revolution in Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Serbian Ministry of Information
Serbian Radio - Free B92
Otpor: Serbian Student Resistance Movement
1:00 PM
BELGRADE - Yugoslavia took another step out of the shadow of Slobodan Milosevic when the Serbian parliament appointed a power-sharing government to run the country's dominant republic until early elections.
The new government shares power between the ousted Yugoslav president's Socialists, who dominated the old administration, and reformist allies
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.