Foes Decry Serbian Vote, Say Milosevic Rule Is ‘Time Bomb’

On the sixth day of protests that have brought this capital to a standstill, opposition leaders charged Saturday that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s rule is an “unstable dictatorship which could trigger new wars in the Balkans.”

Addressing a 30,000-strong crowd of demonstrators gathered in front of his Belgrade headquarters to protest alleged ballot-rigging by Serbian authorities, opposition Democratic Party President Zoran Djindjic said, “The West is wrong to see Milosevic as a factor of stability” in the former Yugoslav federation.

“If Milosevic is ready to steal the elections in Belgrade, he is ready to trample all democratic institutions. It is a small step from here to shooting on the people,” Djindjic said.

The protests in Belgrade, the Serbian and Yugoslav capital, and in a handful of cities across Serbia follow the annulment of Nov. 17 local elections in several Serbian districts. That annulment erased victories in dozens of cities by the four-party opposition coalition Zajedno, or Together, that had marked the first time Milosevic’s Socialists faced defeat at the polls.

On Saturday, former Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic endorsed the opposition and called on Milosevic’s Socialists to admit defeat.

Cosic, a writer who is seen by many as the architect of nationalist plans to create a Greater Serbia, urged Milosevic to “respect the laws and popular will” and “not to renew civil war.”

“The time has come for new people, new ideas and new politics,” said Cosic, who was installed by Milosevic in 1992 as the president of Yugoslavia, the country made up of Serbia and Montenegro. The two men fell out when Milosevic abandoned his nationalist designs and returned to Communist rhetoric.

Opposition leaders accuse the West of turning a blind eye as Milosevic refuses to accept the opposition victory. U.S. and European officials have expressed “concern,” calling on the Serbian authorities to respect the election results.

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Once seen by Washington and its allies as the chief instigator of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Milosevic is now a pillar of the U.S.-sponsored peace accord reached a year ago in Dayton, Ohio. Analysts say the West sees Milosevic as the sole Serbian guarantor of implementing the agreement.

“Western countries must understand that Milosevic’s dictatorship is a time bomb waiting to explode,” said Djindjic, who, if his victory in last Sunday’s election is confirmed, will be the first non-Communist mayor of the capital since World War II.

In an apparent sign of fears that the protests could grow with Belgrade university students threatening to stage a general strike Monday, Television Serbia has stepped up attacks on the opposition.