Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Belgrade on verge of crisis Date: Tue, 3 Nov 92 15:19:55 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Belgrade on verge of crisis \SH No confidence in prime minister \BY REUTERS \DT BELGRADE, Yugoslavia BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic lost a confidence vote in the federal parliament's lower house yesterday, leaving his future uncertain and raising the prospect of a major consitutional crisis. Serbian nationalists and radicals angry at Mr. Panic's efforts to end the war in Bosnia and lead Yugoslavia back to international acceptance voted against him 93-24, with no abstentions. The decision could still be vetoed by the upper house, where Montenegrins have equal voting rights with the Serbs and say they are determined to keep him in power. The upper house decided to meet today after Serbian deputies expressed reluctance to go ahead immediately. Yesterday's vote was a major victory for the supporters of Serbia's nationalist president, Slobodan Milosevic, who introduced the no-confidence motion and who wants to create a greater Serbia straddling three former Yugoslav republics. The consequences were not clear but could be very serious. "[This vote] would mean even greater isolation, perhaps even civil war," said Andrija Perisic, a Montenegrin deputy, during the debate. An upper house veto, even if it happens, could still paralyze Yugoslavia's constitutional structure, leaving moderate federal politicians and hard-line Serbs locked in a bitter power struggle. Mr. Panic is unlikely to leave his post before elections are held in Yugoslavia and its two constituent republics in December. With his popularity rising and Mr. Milosevic's falling, he might then be able to build a stronger support base in parliament, now dominated by Mr. Milosevic's Socialist Party. "This is a last desperate attempt [by Mr. Milosevic] to avoid an honorable peace," Mr. Perisic argued. Mr. Panic, a Yugoslav-born American millionaire, was appointed nearly four months ago with a mandate to try to end international sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro for their role in the war in Bosnia. He has since infuriated Belgrade's old political guard with his overtures to leaders of the Albanian, Muslim and Hungarian minorities in Serbia, which they see as a betrayal of Serbian interests manipulated from Washington. "I see Panic's arrival in Yugoslavia as the arrival of the first soldier of an army of occupation," said Socialist deputy Brana Crncevic. Mr. Panic and federal President Dobrica Cosic have made increasingly clear their hostility toward Mr. Milosevic's hard-line nationalism. The position of Mr. Cosic, ironically seen as one of the founding fathers of modern Serbian nationalism, now seems under threat. It was Mr. Cosic's intervention that saved Mr. Panic from a previous no-confidence vote held Sept. 4. But yesterday, the lower house adopted a resolution condemning an accord between Mr. Cosic and Croatia's President Franjo Tudjman to build ties and call a cease-fire in the Prevlaka peninsula. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM