 |
Bosnian Serbs Float Karadzic Referendum Idea
BELGRADE, May 20 (Reuters) — Bosnian Serb authorities on Monday raised the possibility of holding a referendum soon to rally support behind hardline leader Radovan Karadzic, resorting to a favoured method of defying the international community. The Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA quoted unnamed sources as saying a referendum would "show and prove the true will of the people" and would deliver a "defeat" to international efforts to remove the "state leadership."
With the world now demanding Karadzic obey the terms of the Dayton peace accord and step down as ``president,'' aides to the hardline political chief said they were seriously considering a referendum to show the world he still enjoyed popular support. "Then the people will have a say about who can represent Serbs, not the international community," one aide said.
Much to the embarrassment of Western powers, Karadzic has clung to power six months after the signing of a U.S.-brokered peace accord which requires him to quit office and face charges as an indicted war criminal. Officials in the office of international mediator Carl Bildt cast doubt on the legal weight of any referendum. "If the people of Republika Srpska wish to place a little 'x' in a box saying that they think Dr Karadzic is a wonderful person that's entirely their affair," Colum Murphy, a spokesman for Bildt, told reporters in Sarajevo. "What legal merit it has is another matter."
Murphy added that it remained unclear whether the Serbs would go ahead with the vote. "This referendum is not something that has been decided upon."
The Bosnian Serb assembly's nearly unanimous decision over the weekend to name a hardliner as prime minister was a disappointment for Western diplomats who had been encouraged by Kasagic's willingness to implement the Dayton accord. Despite the sacking of Kasagic, Bildt believed he had secured the "beginning of the end" of Karadzic's political tenure after discussing the issue with the hardline speaker of the Serb assembly, Momcilo Krajisnik.
Bildt told reporters on Sunday he was encouraged that a "process" had begun which would gradually push Karadzic aside. There was no sign in the Serb headquarters of Pale outside Sarajevo, that Karadzic was ready to relinquish power. With his underlings controlling the media and the police, Karadzic could expect to earn overwhelming support from any referendum, Serb political sources said. Previous ballots on peace plans produced nearly unanimous "no" votes which the international community dismissed as farcical exercises in propaganda.
Charged with war crimes by a U.N. tribunal and shunned by his former patron, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic,
political analysts say Karadzic has no other choice but to try to hold on to office as long as he can. Bosnian Serb political sources said it was possible the referendum would be held "very soon" and might also ask Serbs if they supported the commander of the Bosnian Serb army, General Ratko Mladic, also supposed to step down under the peace pact.
Recent rallies organised to show support for Karadzic and Mladic have irritated the Serb general, who broke with the Serb political leader in a bitter power struggle last year. Army sources say Mladic, who is widely revered by ordinary Serbs, does not want to be associated with Karadzic in any way and would probably oppose his name being included on the ballot.
|
Talk among Serb officials about a possible referendum follows the sacking of moderate prime minister Rajko Kasagic,
ousted after he tried to take a more pragmatic approach with Western governments. Karadzic has turned to highly-orchestrated ballots in the past to ratify the Serb assembly's rejection of peace plans drawn up by Western mediators.
Berserkistan, May 20 · Kradzic Shifts Duties, but Defies Pressure to Step Down
Berserkistan, May 20 · Bildt Has 'Understanding' from Karadzic
Berserkistan, May 20 · The Karadzic Proxy: Biljana Plavsic
Berserkistan, May 20 · Bildt Insists Removal of Karadzic is Proceeding
Berserkistan, May 20 · Karadzic is winning. Carl Bildt is losing. Analysis by Tom Warrick of the Coalition for International Justice
Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved