The Big Steel Bird

The Montenegrin election committee said there were 448,502 voters in Montenegro, but the National Unity coalition had not received the unconditionally demanded computer disc with their names. However, the coalition has no further intention of boycotting the elections. "We will win, no matter how many votes they steal," Slavko Perovic said on the behalf of the coalition.

Members of the coalition say they were right in their suspicions, as difficult as it may be to check things without a computer list. A glance at the election lists show that all those who passed away since the previous election campaign are still entitled vote, unlike those born in 1977 and 1978, whose names are not on the list although they should be. What is more, some names appear on more than one list, and there are others who are ineligible to vote but have nevertheless been invited to do so, National Unity says.

The opposition team has obtained hundreds of government-sent voting invitations to those who have been dead for more than a decade. Some individuals have kindly been asked to vote more than once while others have the privilege of being on several lists, with their nicknames appearing in the attempt to cover up the farce.

"They have a few more days to moan and throw false accusations at us, because we are going to take them apart at the elections", Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said at the convention of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. Djukanovic said that once the elections are over, opposition leaders will have to present evidence in court for what they have been saying in the past few weeks. Svetozar Marovic of Budva said only DPS supporters and members would be allowed to work in government institutions after the elections, because a "silent obstruction of these institutions can no longer be tolerated".

The police say they had to sign DPS lists after which they were told that they could only vote for that party because their names had been entered into the computer. Three policemen from Bar have been fired for refusing to sign DPS lists. The art of ruling had its finishing touched broadcast on TV, although none of the facilities put into operation are worth mentioning. The power industry dispatching centre, opened in Podgorica the other day, was constructed five years ago. A few days ago, Prime Minister Djukanovic lifted the shovel once or twice in a pompously broadcasted laying of the foundations to a bridge over the Ribnica river, but there seem to be no workers or construction gear on site.

The Montenegrin brewery celebrated its centenary a few days ago. The scene when president Momir Bulatovic and some of his fellow DPS mates tasted quality Niksic beer was covered live by the prime time news, which made the event somewhat spectacular. The opposition in the brewery says it is quite unclear what the DPS has to do with the fact that Niksic beer is one of the best, except that the brewery's facilities have never been in worse condition as a result of the ruling party's policy.

The mission to give Montenegro its first jet airliner has been accomplished. A charming French blonde landed a Fokker-28, the property of Montenegro airlines, at the Podgorica airport a couple of days ago. Not that the event was one to remember, only the transport minister and the company managers were there to welcome the DPS election joker. The plane is 14 years old and it cost three million dollars. Experts say that's not much for a plane like that, but add that its rentability is more than questionable. However, the purchase of two 727 Boeings is still veiled in a cloud of mystery. Informed sources say the Fokker 28 was purchased for money not related to the 15 million dollars needed for the two Boeings, which, according to the sources, have still not been bought because the money is on someone's private account abroad. Apart from the plane, the Montenegrin government also bought a ship -Pelinovo- which cruised out on its maiden voyage for commercial reasons. The DPS says the eight million dollar purchase was made to complete the Montenegrin fleet. Experts say the vessel was quite expensive and remind that a number of ships known as the pride of the fleet were sold worldwide for no more than two million dollars, and that this DPS accomplishment must not be forgotten.

It appears the National Unity coalition has struck the right chord with the election slogan "Give us our money back". Djukanovic and his aide sound like broken records with the story that the money was spent on buying medicine, the maintenance of Montenegro's share in Yugoslav Airlines, raising productivity in industrial plants and other basic necessities. The coalition, however, will have none of that and want receipts for every dime taken out of the country, having accused the DP of endless embezzlements and abuse of power. All opposition rallies include a banner saying "Put an end to robbery". According to a certain document, the controversial Jugoskandik bank owner Jezdimir Vasiljevic has stashed 35 million Deutchmarks from his clients' savings accounts in the safe of Podgorica's national bank. If the document is true, it gives a fairly reliable clue what happened to the rest of the money related to Jezdimir Vasiljevic and Dafina Milanovic. After the rallies in Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja and Ulcinj, the opposition staged another one in Niksic. The reason - to show their teeth to Prime Minister Djukanovic, who said that no more than a thousand opposition supporters attended the first one, abandoned after 15 minutes due to torrential rain.

The coalition has undoubtedly won a lot of support, and its leaders are convinced that victory at the elections is a foregone conclusion. The general opinion is that the campaign of Kilibarda and Perovic has been more successful than anyone could have expected, as the two received standing ovations even in places where they were unpopular in the past. In a land where tradition is everything, the fact that the two leaders said Montenegrins must never again be divided by what their predecessors had done, proves that they are more determined than ever to make a great leap forward.