 |  |  |
| Return to: Left History: a digital archive | Return to: Say no to imperialist wars! | Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources |
| | |
| Return to: Left History: a digital archive | Return to: Say no to imperialist wars! | Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources |
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Slobodan Milosevic's main opponent on Friday predicted that all-out protests that aim to drive the Yugoslav president from power will have an impact, but he admitted that the opposition faces a difficult task.
``We are dealing with a man who has no sense of reality and who will need a lot of persuasion'' to leave, said Zoran Djindjic, the key leader of the opposition Alliance for Change. ``We are entering a clash with a dictator, who is self-confident, has a lot of money ... and wants to rule forever.''
Djindjic's opposition group has called for daily protests to begin on Tuesday and last until Milosevic is ousted. The coalition, an umbrella group of several major opposition parties, assembled Thursday in northern Serbia for its first convention and pledged the regime will be ousted.
The protests are planned in the capital, Belgrade, and 16 other cities in Serbia, Djindjic's Democratic Party said in a statement Friday.
Demands for Milosevic's ouster have increased since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign ended in June. The bombing left the country badly damaged, impoverished and without control of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.
But a former Milosevic ally said Friday that he believed the president is more likely to be ousted by the people around him than by the opposition forces.
``I am confident Milosevic will last no more than two to three months in power,'' Dusan Mihajlovic, leader of the center-left New Democracy Party, was quoted as saying by the independent daily Glas Javnosti. ``Milosevic simply has no future.''
Mihajlovic said the greatest threat to Milosevic comes from members of the president's Socialist Party, ``who refuse to accept the pariah status of the country.''
``All Milosevic is left with are the obedient few who obey his every whim just so they can enjoy the meager privileges he bestows,'' he said, refusing to pinpoint individuals within Milosevic's ranks likely to turn against their boss.
Milosevic's government has sought to discredit the opposition as servants of NATO, working in favor of the Western occupation of Kosovo.
On Friday, police in Belgrade detained two students who took part in a game in which participants paid to throw things at a picture of Milosevic, a student leader of the group, ``Resistance,'' told The Associated Press.
The authorities also have brought charges against an opposition activist from the central Serbian town of Valjevo and prolonged his detention for another two months. Bogoljub Arsenijevic-Maki was arrested last month after he organized a protest in Valjevo that resulted in a clash with the police.