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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 231, 96-12-02
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 231, 2 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT GETS A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.
[02] NIYAZOV IN TASHKENT.
[03] UPDATE ON CURRENCY CRISIS IN UZBEKISTAN.
[04] ANOTHER TAJIK TOWN UNDER SIEGE.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] SERBIAN POLICE VOW CRACK DOWN . . .
[06] . . . WHILE OPPOSITION VOWS TO FORGE AHEAD WITH PROTESTS.
[07] BOSNIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS TO GO AHEAD.
[08] FIRST SENTENCE HANDED DOWN BY HAGUE COURT.
[09] PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONTROVERSIAL BUDGET.
[10] IS THE BOSNIAN SERB POWER STRUGGLE OVER?
[11] UNPREDEP MANDATE EXTENDED IN MACEDONIA.
[12] NEW ROMANIAN PRESIDENT TAKES OATH.
[13] PRO-RUSSIAN ELECTED MOLDOVA'S PRESIDENT.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT QUESTIONS CONSENSUS ON CURRENCY BOARD.
[15] HEAVY PRISON TERMS FOR EIGHT ALBANIAN COMMUNIST-ERA OFFICIALS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT GETS A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.
The Armenian parliament on 29 November approved the government program of
recently appointed Prime Minister Armen Sarkisyan, ITAR-TASS reported the
same day. Speaking at a session of parliament, which is overwhelmingly
dominated by deputies loyal to President Levon Ter-Petrossyan, Sarkisyan
said a "qualitative improvement" of economic reforms will be his
government's top priority. He also pledged more state support for education,
science, and culture. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] NIYAZOV IN TASHKENT.
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov began a two-day state visit to
Uzbekistan on 27 November, and signed a number of economic and cultural
agreements designed to improve relations which have been overall cool,
Western and Russian news agencies reported. Niyazov and his Uzbek
counterpart, Islam Karimov, also discussed the situations in Tajikistan and
Afghanistan. On 21 November, Uzbekistan opened an embassy in Ashgabat. --
Lowell Bezanis
[03] UPDATE ON CURRENCY CRISIS IN UZBEKISTAN.
President Islam Karimov hinted that importers bringing "high quality" goods
into Uzbekistan would enjoy a greater degree of convertibility from January
1997. Karimov went on to say joint ventures engaged in "civilized business
with Uzbekistan will not suffer any material losses." His remarks,
broadcast on Uzbek Radio on 27 November and monitored by the BBC, suggest
the government is attempting to step back from regulations introduced in
late October that effectively forbid foreign currency transactions and
limit currency conversion to a handful of large firms operating in
Uzbekistan. Diplomats, traders, and international lending institutions have
all registered their displeasure with the new regulations. In other news,
Uzbek Radio on 26 November announced the minimum monthly wage in Uzbekistan
would rise to 600 som, approximately $12 at the official exchange rate but
about $5 on the black market. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] ANOTHER TAJIK TOWN UNDER SIEGE.
The city of Garm in central Tajikistan is the latest to fall to forces of
the Tajik opposition, Russian and Western media reported. Opposition
fighters began attacking Garm on 1 December, killing at least seven
government soldiers and by nightfall were holding some 100-150 government
employees and soldiers in a local mosque. Government aircraft and
helicopters responded by bombing the city. Fighting continued into the next
morning. The fall of Garm leaves the opposition in control of a fork in a
strategic highway leading both southeast and northeast. Supplies must now
be airlifted to government forces in Tajikabad and CIS border guards in
Khorog, Kalai-Khumb, and Ishkashim. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] SERBIAN POLICE VOW CRACK DOWN . . .
Belgrade police authorities issued a statement on 1 December promising to
"hold responsible" organizers of ongoing mass public demonstrations,
triggered after the regime nullified victories by the opposition Zajedno
movement during 17 November runoff municipal elections. The police say they
have been more than tolerant in the face of unlawful behavior, and are now
prepared to crack down on what they claim are "serious breaches of the law,
" Tanjug reported. For their part, Zajedno leaders have gone on record
saying that police have already harassed and arrested protest organizers.
The Serbian regime continues to manipulate press coverage of the protests,
and independent media are coming under pressure to conform with the
government line, with the most recent target of regime interference being
the recently founded daily Blic. Independent Radio B 92, for its part,
has had its frequencies jammed. -- Stan Markotich
[06] . . . WHILE OPPOSITION VOWS TO FORGE AHEAD WITH PROTESTS.
Zajedno opposition leaders say they will continue with peaceful, Serbia-
wide mass demonstrations against Serbian authorities and have promised to
peacefully take over local institutions on 2 December in the urban areas
where Zajedno originally won elections. The only thing that can prevent a
full-scale boycott of the republican and local legislatures, say Zajedno
leaders, is a ruling by the Serbian parliament nullifying third round
results that overturned the 17 November results. Parliament is slated to
meet 3 December. In related news, the BBC on 30 November reported that
police authorities physically abused two student protesters during an
"interrogation" session. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has been
roundly criticized by the international community for his tampering with
the results of the local elections. -- Stan Markotich
[07] BOSNIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS TO GO AHEAD.
The OSCE's chief election monitor for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ambassador Robert
Frowick, announced on 1 December that the Bosnian Serbs have agreed to
accept the OSCE's monitoring of the local elections slated for 1997, VOA
reported. This removes the last major obstacle to the OSCE's organizing of
the vote, which the Muslims and Croats have already accepted. An adviser to
President Alija Izetbegovic said, however, that continued Muslim support
will depend on the exact nature of the new election rules, AFP noted. The
Muslim leaders fear that the Serbs will again try to abuse a controversial
clause in the previous election rules that enables people to cast their
votes for areas in which they claim they will eventually live. The new
regulations contain this option, but will require the voter to prove a
"connection" to the place, such as a home, business, or blood relative. --
Patrick Moore
[08] FIRST SENTENCE HANDED DOWN BY HAGUE COURT.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia announced on
29 November that it has sentenced Drazen Erdemovic to ten years in prison,
the BBC and Oslobodjenje reported. Erdemovic is an ethnic Croat whose
underworld activities eventually led him to the Bosnian Serb side and
participation in a massacre of 1,200 Muslims after the fall of Srebrenica
in 1995. The court said it was lenient because Erdemovic, who had turned
himself in, showed remorse and had been cooperative. His testimony revealed
a massacre that had not been reported before and that is now under
investigation. It is the first sentence for war crimes since the Nuremberg
and Tokyo trials at the end of World War II. -- Patrick Moore
[09] PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONTROVERSIAL BUDGET.
The Croatian parliament (Sabor) on 29 November adopted a controversial 1997
budget, international and local media reported. The budget, which totals
35.42 billion kunas ($6.4 billion), allots increases of up to 50% to
government offices, while education, science and the judiciary get up to
10% more. The majority of deputies from the ruling Croatian Democratic
Community outvoted the opposition in passing the budget. Vlado Gotovac of
the opposition Social-liberals criticized the government for spending too
much at a time when a tight budget is needed. In other news, the head of
Croatia's supreme court, Krunoslav Olujic, who was sacked amid allegations
of pedophilia (see the OMRI Daily Digest, 27 November 1996), said his
dismissal was "purely political" and "a public lynching," Novi List
reported on 30 November. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] IS THE BOSNIAN SERB POWER STRUGGLE OVER?
The civilian leadership of the Republika Srpska has achieved two of its
main goals in its confrontation with the military establishment based at
Han Pijesak. On 28 November, the cashiered commander and indicted war
criminal Gen. Ratko Mladic agreed to step down. On 1 December, his deputy,
Gen. Milan Gvero, did likewise, AFP reported. Neither man went quietly,
however. Mladic warned the government that it must do something about the
poor morale and state of preparedness in the army, claiming that his
intelligence reports show that "the Muslims" will renew fighting later in
1997. Gvero lambasted the civilians, arguing that they "believe that the
services of the officers and generals who fought the war are useless and
harmful." -- Patrick Moore
[11] UNPREDEP MANDATE EXTENDED IN MACEDONIA.
The UN Security Council on 27 November approved a six-month extension of
the UN Preventive Deployment Force in Macedonia, Reuters reported. The
mandate was extended until 31 May, but UNPREDEP's strength will be reduced
from a current 1,100 to 800 troops and monitors by 30 April. Russia
abstained from the vote, saying the current extension should be the last
one. In other news, the second round of local elections took place on 1
December. Macedonian media put the turnout at around 60%. First official
results are not expected until late on 2 December. -- Stefan Krause
[12] NEW ROMANIAN PRESIDENT TAKES OATH.
Emil Constantinescu was sworn in as Romania's new president on 29 November,
Romanian media reported. The same day he held talks with leaders of all
political formations represented in parliament: the Democratic Convention
of Romania (CDR), the Party of Social Democracy in Romania, the Social
Democratic Union (USD), the Greater Romania Party, and the Party of
Romanian National Unity. Afterwards, Constantinescu officially designated
Victor Ciorbea, the CDR mayor of Bucharest, to form the new government.
Constantinescu stressed that he wanted a "solid government . . . one for
four years and not just for several months, as some people would like." Two
days earlier, USD leader Petre Roman, who was Romania's premier from 1990
to 1991, and Ion Diaconescu, chairman of the National Peasant Party --
Christian Democratic, were elected chairmen of the Senate and the Chamber
of Deputies, respectively. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] PRO-RUSSIAN ELECTED MOLDOVA'S PRESIDENT.
Parliament Speaker Petru Lucinschi was elected Moldova's president in a
runoff on 1 December, Moldovan and Western agencies reported. According to
preliminary data, Lucinschi's led with 53.14% of the vote, over incumbent
President Mircea Snegur with 46.86%. Lucinschi, 56, who was the highest
ranking ethnic Moldovan in the hierarchy of the defunct Communist Party of
the Soviet Union (he was Central Committee secretary), was backed by
leftist forces, including the ruling Agrarian Democratic Party, the
socialists, the Communists' Party of Moldova and the Edinstvo-Unitate
movement. He is generally seen as pro-Russian; during the electoral
campaign, he repeatedly advocated closer ties with the Commonwealth of
Independent States and Russia. In a first statement, Lucinschi said that
his "victory [was] one for the people ... who want a change for the
better." -- Dan Ionescu
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT QUESTIONS CONSENSUS ON CURRENCY BOARD.
Zhelyu Zhelev expressed serious concerns in a 27 November letter to IMF
Managing Director Michael Camdessus about whether a political consensus for
the introduction of a currency board in Bulgaria can be reached,
international and national media reported. He said opposition support for
the board may help the current Socialist government but noted that a board
would be discredited if supported only by the Socialists in parliament. The
cabinet issued a statement labeling Zhelev's letter as misleading and
causing great damage to Bulgaria's relationship with international
institutions. Meanwhile, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Regional Director Olivier Descamps said on 29 November that the bank will
no longer participate in state-sponsored projects in Bulgaria because of
questionable support by the IMF and the World Bank and the slow development
of the reform program. However, loans would still be made to support
private-sector projects. -- Maria Koinova
[15] HEAVY PRISON TERMS FOR EIGHT ALBANIAN COMMUNIST-ERA OFFICIALS.
A Tirana court headed by Judge Andi Celiku on 27 November sentenced eight
Communist Party officials to long prison terms. They were found guilty of
the "large-scale deportation of people, violations of the Albanian
constitution and of international conventions," AFP reported. Shkoder party
Secretary Enver Halili and former secret police officer Mehdi Bushati were
tried in absentia and were both sentenced to 22 years in prison. Others
sentenced include local party chairmen and secret police officers Raqi
Iftica (17 years), Marash Kola (16 years), and Hysen Shehu (4 years).
Others tried in absentia included Qemal Bregasi (18 years), Lahedin Bardhi
(18 years), and Jorgaq Mihali (16 years). -- Fabian Schmidt
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to [email protected].
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