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Suberbia
Balkan politicians have had to survive in a tight political area, geographically and socially. They learned centuries ago the words of the Italian political genius Machiaveli in his insightful novel `The Prince'. Milosevic has proved an able Serbian politician, he may be down, but he is not out. In what appeared to be the latest ploy to buy time for Milosevic, Yugoslavia's highest court invalidated part of the September 24 presidential elections, which Milosevic's opponents say was won outright by his rival Vojislav Kostunica. Dust in the eyes for Milosevic's opponents. What does the court ruling mean? Nobody, including Milosevic, would know yet. What is pretty certain, this is a positive move for Milosevic's political chess game. The constitutional court ruling - by judges loyal to the president - could be aimed at allowing Milosevic to stay in power longer. His term does not expire until the middle of next year, which leaves him free to set a new election date any time before then. Milosevic's government conceded that Presidential candidate Kostunica gained more votes than Milosevic, but not a large enough margin to allow him to avoid a second round of voting. The undoubtedly successful opposition (according to formal rules, not Balkan rules) has let its ego get in the way of wisdom, it has said it would boycott a second round. Doesn't this hand the chess board back to SM? Expect the unexpected. The unexpected court ruling appeared calculated to help Milosevic regain the upper hand after losing ground in growing popular protests against his rule. Police on Wednesday were forced to abandoned plans to take over a striking coal mine after confronting fearless anti-Milosevic crowds - a stunning development unprecedented in a former communist nation with no history of major worker uprisings. Who can adapt fstest to the new situation? The court ruling on Wednesday infuriated opposition leaders, who don't seem capable of remaining calm and calculating and may well lose the game as a result. They resorted to stating the obvious. "He saw that he cannot push through the second round against the majority of the people," opposition campaign manager Zoran Djindjic said of Milosevic, adding: "His solution is... to create a new situation for totally new elections; allowing him to cling to power for further months." One must never state the obvious, it makes the opposition aware that you have no plan that is not public knowledge - the opposition is given the advantage. Such is life. The court ruling was indirectly initiated by the opposition after it pressed its claims of election fraud before the judges. The tribunal met in emergency session to hear claims by the 18-party opposition coalition that Milosevic's cronies manipulated election results by using a sophisticated software program, a copy of which opposition leaders claimed to have obtained. Before the court's decision was announced, top opposition figures had been buoyed by the police capitulation at the Kolubara mine complex. They rushed to join more than 10,000 protesters there and openly predicted Milosevic's quick demise. "Serbia has risen so that one man would leave," Kostunica told cheering workers and their supporters at the Kolubara mine near Lazarevac, about 25 miles south of Belgrade. Opposition leaders issued an ultimatum for Milosevic to resign by 3pm on Thursday - the time set for the Belgrade rally. "This flame will engulf the whole of Belgrade," said Vladan Batic, an opposition leader. Mistake number two, making promises one cannot keep. In an open letter to Milosevic, Kostunica said, "It will be better for you to recognize electoral defeat or risk the danger of open clashes nationwide." Even before the court ruling Milosevic showed no signs he was contemplating defeat. His prime minister, Momir Bulatovic, repeated the position that Milosevic can remain in office until June 2001 regardless of the election outcome. Animal cunning is required to beat an animal. Maybe the political opponents of Milosevic are too modern and sophisticated to win in the bear-pit that is the Balkans. . . . .nd to poverty. These foot-soldiers are mobilisi
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