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Best Solution: Reinstate Election Results

BETA news agency

Nasa Borba, Beograd, FR Yugoslavia, 12/17 1996

Podgorica, Beta - Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic stated that the best solution for the current crisis in Serbia is to reinstate the results from the second round of recent local elections. In an interview for the daily Vesti, which is published in Serbian in Frankfurt, Germany, Dukanovic said that even to him, let alone to foreign governments and public opinion, "the explanation that the opposition has rigged the elections which were, as everywhere else, organized by the authorities, sounds very unconvincing". According the Podgorica daily Pobjeda, he emphasized that the reinstatement of the election results would be "the best solution" for the current crisis in Serbia.

Dukanovic emphasized that "the authorities in Serbia shouldn't be afraid to do that; it is not a tragedy to loose power in several cities, even the largest ones, if one has firm control of the republic and Federation".

Montenegrin Prime Minister said that if it has become impossible to reinstate the results because of the legal procedure, president Milosevic should "annul these and declare new local elections as soon as possible; this way we are simply wasting time".

According to Dukanovic, the solution for the crisis in Serbia is a condition for improved relations with the international community: "everyone must realize that huge internal, economic and social problems cannot be solved without improved relations with the international community". Dukanovic concluded the interview by saying that the annulment of the second round of local elections in Serbia has resulted in "irreparable damage both on the internal and external plane".

Translated on 12/18/96