TV Debate Urged in Yugoslav Race
National television, apparently inspired by the U.S. presidential campaign, suggested Saturday that the two front-runners for the country’s vacant post of prime minister take part in a televised public debate.
Ante Markovic, a member of the collective presidency in the republic of Croatia, and Borisav Jovic, Parliament president in Serbia, should appear together in a live broadcast, a Yugoslav television commentator said on the evening news program.
They would each have a limited time to describe their economic and political views and would then answer telephone questions from viewers and make any further comments on their records, the commentator suggested.
Prime Minister Branko Mikulic resigned Dec. 30. Yugoslavia is in the midst of a political and economic crisis with inflation of over 250%, a foreign debt of $22 billion and growing ethnic unrest.
The country’s state presidency on Thursday named six candidates to replace Mikulic, but political analysts described Markovic and Jovic as the front-runners.
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