DATE=8/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=YUGOSLAVIA / MARKOVIC (L-ONLY) (CQ)
NUMBER=2-265867
BYLINE=STEFAN BOS
DATELINE=BUDAPEST
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// Re-issuing to correct last sentence of actuality
to read: "And I am afraid that after the 24th
September [elections], an aggression of the Milosevic
regime on Montenegro will be more likely"; on, sted or
as originally sent ///
INTRO: The wife of Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic has entered the race for a seat in
Parliament in next month's elections. As Stefan Bos
reports, this will be Mirjana Markovic's first try for
an elected office.
TEXT: The neo-communist Yugoslav Left Party announced
Friday that its leader, Yugoslavia's first lady
Mirjana Markovic, will run for a Parliament seat in
Pozarevac. President Slobodan Milosevic and his wife
both come from Pozarevac, in central Serbia.
Mrs. Markovic, who is 58, will be running for
Parliament for the first time since her husband rose
to power in the late 1980's.
Although she wants to be seen as a politician in her
own right, Ms. Markovic was an outspoken supporter of
her husband during four Balkan wars in which he played
a central role.
Critics will argue that Mrs. Markovic's candidacy is
another sign that President Slobodan Milosevic wants
to increase his power base ahead of the elections on
September 24th. Mr. Milosevic is running for re-
election in the ballot next month, representing both
his Socialist Party and his wife's Yugoslav Left.
The latest opinion polls show Mr. Milosevic is running
slightly behind the main opposition candidate,
Vojislav Kostunica.
Analysts say Mr. Milosevic's political moves are
dictated, in part, by his desire to avoid prosecution
by a United Nations tribunal for alleged war crimes.
With his wife playing an influential role in
Parliament, analysts say, Mr. Milosevic would be less
likely to face extradition to the U-N court in The
Hague.
The vice president of the opposition Social Democratic
Union, Vlatko Sekulovic, says the election could usher
in a dangerous period of instability for Yugoslavia,
whether or not Mr. Milosevic is the winner.
/// SEKULOVIC ACT ///
After this election, whatever will be the
result, the possibility of a war or conflict
will rise in this area. Primarily, I think
about Montenegro. And I am afraid that after
the 24th September [elections], an aggression of
the Milosevic regime on Montenegro will be more
likely.
/// END ACT ///
The small republic of Montenegro, which along with
Serbia makes up the Yugoslav federation, has already
said it will boycott the polls, because of what it
calls "un-democratic" election laws.
U-S officials, who have set up a so-called "pro-
democracy office" in neighboring Hungary to support
the Serbian opposition, fear that President Milosevic
and his allies will try to rig the vote. (Signed)
NEB/SJB/WTW/JP
25-Aug-2000 17:37 PM EDT (25-Aug-2000 2137 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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