Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-03-26

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] BULATOVIC LAUDS REPORTING BY TANJUG

[02] BULATOVIC SAYS MONTENEGRO'S RULING PARTY UNITED ON YUGOSLAVIA

[03] MORINA APPEALS FOR UNDERSTANDING AND ASSISTANCE

[01] BULATOVIC LAUDS REPORTING BY TANJUG

At a press conference on Tuesday evening in Podgorica Bulatovic explained the stances taken by DPS Main Board at its session on Monday night on current issues of state and party politics.

Answering a question on the coverage of developments in Montenegro by Serbian media and Tanjug, Bulatovic said that the media, however powerful, cannot change the fundamental balance of political forces, and added he would not take part in any discussion on insufficient coverage of Montenegrin developments by Yugoslav media.

Bulatovic said he thought that all principal developments in Montenegro were covered by quality reporting of the Federal News Agency.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-26 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-25

[02] BULATOVIC SAYS MONTENEGRO'S RULING PARTY UNITED ON YUGOSLAVIA

President Momir Bulatovic, who heads the DPS, was speaking at a news conference in the Montenegrin capital about conclusions reached at Monday evening's session of the DPS Main Board which had discussed topical questions in the implementation of party and state policy.

Bulatovic told the news conference that the party leadership had completely cleared up doubts and unanimously defined positions on all important questions and noted the obligation, stemming from the party's statute, that the defined policy be consistently implemented.

'We noted without exception that there is no need to redefine, but only to reaffirm, the DPS election programme as concerns the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had brought the DPS the convincing majority and support of the Montenegrins in the last election,' he said.

'For us in the DPS and the Montenegrin state bodies, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is a project to which we have linked our political future and we shall absolutely work to put this project into effect,' Bulatovic vowed.

'We shall devote all our energies to the strengthening, efficacy and democratic development of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a community of equal republics and equal citizens,' he added.

'There is no alternative course, no alternative programme, no alternative solution, there is no question of introducing a (Montenegrin currency unit) Perper, no question of the DPS seeking a referendum. We are continuing along the road we have started on, and we have therefore welcomed the new Federal Cabinet and its new programme,' he said.

Absolute agreement was reached also that the DPS must take more efficacious and responsible action in the implementation of state policy, he stressed. However, he added, there had been differences about what influence the DPS could and should have on the executive power, i.e., if some statements by individual people, Government ministers and state officials, were reason enough for them to be sacked.

He explained that absolute accord had not been reached on this head nor on the question of the party's concrete influence on the work of direct executive bodies.

Bulatovic noted that, after a lengthy debate and a vote, in which his proposal for the DPS to have greater influence on the work of these bodies had been carried convincingly with 64 ayes and 7 nayes, Premier Milo Djukanovic had announced his resignation as party Vice*President.

'It is true that I, too, offered my resignation at the session of the Main Board unless my proposal were adopted, for the simple reason that as the most responsible party official I should work to ensure the unity of the DPS,' Bulatovic explained.

'As President of the DPS, I proposed a series of measures which I believe would ensure party unity,' he said and listed them as:

'Strengthening of relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the DPS's concrete activity in the implementation of its election programme, and the necessity of making changes in the Montenegrin Cabinet in order to ensure stability of the DPS and the Government of Montenegro, which was accepted.'

'My request was not for sacking Djukanovic, it was a politically and rationally founded request for the work of the Government to be made more responsible,' Bulatovic specified.

'It is quite clear that the Vice*Premier in charge of the financial system (Slavko Drljevic) must accept responsibility for announcing the Perper, because his concern should be the (Yugoslav national currency) Dinar,' he added.

'If any other of the Government servants should take upon himself, without authority to do so under the Constitution or by virtue of his political office, the right to take decisions about what the Republic of Montenegro should and should not do, then it is logical that he should take the consequences for his actions,' Bulatovic said.

In this context, he criticised public statements and political assessments made by Culture Minister Goran Rakocevic. 'It was my request that the DPS, which takes the responsibility for such individual statements, should absolutely have the right to influence the sacking of such people,' Bulatovic said.

Asked to comment on statements by Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic concerning Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Bulatovic said:

'I have not heard Slobodan Milosevic criticising Milo Djukanovic. I have heard and read about Djukanovic criticising Milosevic. I see in the media that there is a great expectation that some differentiation be carried out on the basis of this issue. I assure you that we are too serious people and too serious a political party to decide our differences on the matter of who criticised whom,' Bulatovic said.

'A serious debate has been started about what is actually personal position and personal opinion within a party and within a state and its operation. The basic principles of the DPS dictate full freedom of personal opinion in policy making but at the same time limit personal opinion by the general policy objectives,' he added.

'Instead of a reply and instead of saying whether or not we criticise Slobodan Milosevic individually or en masse, I wish to say that the DPS Main Board, including all people in the party's top most leadership, will support Milosevic for President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia if the Socialist Party of Serbia should nominate him,' Bulatovic said.

Asked if DPS Vice*President Svetozar Marovic, too, had tendered his resignation at the Main Board session, Bulatovic replied he had not heard anything of the kind. He further said there had been no demands for convening a special Congress of the party.

Asked whose resignations from among the Government ministers and other officials he had asked for, Bulatovic said he had asked for the resignations of Vice*Premier Slavko Drljevic, Culture Minister Goran Rakocevic, State Security Chief in the Interior Ministry Vukasin Maras and Chief of the Montenegrin Trade Mission in Washington Ratko Knezevic.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-26 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-25

[03] MORINA APPEALS FOR UNDERSTANDING AND ASSISTANCE

Talking in Zajecar, eastern Serbia, with leaders of the Timok County which has provided refuge for 3,000 of these people, Morina said that the FRY had spent over 1.5 billion dollars on refugees, which exceeds by far the value of foreign humanitarian aid, and the financial possibilities of our economy strained by sanctions.

We have provided for refugees in Serbia, and the world should now make up to our children what had been taken away from them during the period of sanctions, Morina said assessing that the international community can not make any more pretexts to keep FR Yugoslavia isolated from world trade and financial organizations, after it has consistently carried out its commitments under the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Morina said she expected foreign governments to help and from the United Nations to intensify pressure on Croatia to allow Serbs to return to their ancestral homes, and secure full respect of their human rights.

Morina condemned Croatia's position to allow in the current and next year the return of only 30.000 Serb refugees, calling it a 'blatant attempt to slow down their return,' and some attempts of the UNHCR to conduct repatriation without consultations with the Yugoslav Government.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-26 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-25

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article