"They were frightened by my candidacy"

Serbian television sharply criticized Montenegrin prime minister Milo Djukanovic in a Saturday night prime time news broadcast for his interview with the weekly Vreme, in which he called Slobodan Milosevic an outdated politician. Djukanovic was accused of being "an agent and aggressive promoter of Milan Panic, an ambitious impatient and power-seeking candidate wanting to rule Serbia". Djukanovic was further charged with "joining those wanting to topple the Belgrade authorities and destabilize Serbia".

The Serbian television commentator stressed that Panic became the majority owner of the Galenika corporation under "dubious circumstances, with the help of his former ministers and Milo Djukanovic". We asked Mr. Panic to comment on the allegations.

Vreme: What is your comment on the latest accusations made against you ?

Panic: They were made by irresponsible people. Free media can't be an excuse to fabricate things. As you very well know, people in Serbia have been jeering Serbian television for months, the students "visit" the building on a daily basis.

Do you know why I am being attacked by state-controlled media ? They are afraid that I might run as a candidate for Serbian president. They are nervous already, although the elections are a distant future. Fabrications don't deserve an answer anyway, you know the energetic and able Montenegrin premier is an independent personality, he couldn't possible be anyone's "promoter". As far as Galenika is concerned, those who made the allegations seem to have forgotten that the purchase was made legitimately with Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic's full support. Would he approve a deal being made under "dubious and inexplicable" circumstances ? Mr. Djukanovic never had anything to do with the matter.

My former ministers have nothing to do with it either. I became the prime minister in July 1992 (at the insisting of Slobodan Milosevic), and I signed the deal with Galenika on November 22, 1990.

Vreme: Belgrade's Dnevni Telegraf daily says that you are no longer the chairman of the ICN Galenika corporation. The daily states a reason too: during the pharmaceutical industry crisis caused by the sanctions imposed against Yugoslavia, you shipped medicaments to Serbia free of charge, hoping you would get the Zdravlje Leskovac company as compensation. That didn't happen, and you are allegedly only the ICN managing director now, having been sacked as chairman ?

Panic: That is nonsense, I was never sacked. I am still in charge of the ICN corporation, the chairman and the managing director. I won't hold this against the Telegraf's editor-in-chief - he was fed by false information by the same people who made all those comments against me. I think more is still to come. I am their "program" - they have no other ambitions than to stay in power, that is why the situation in Serbia is such as it is. Unlike them I do have a program, the people know this, and it is based on the following postulates:

- economic prosperity

- a rise in production

- full employment

- productivity

- a better welfare program for pupils, students and the youth

- agricultural reforms

- a new social welfare program for pensioners and all threatened categories of the population

- human rights and freedoms

- ethnic tolerance

- reintegration into the world - especially with financial organizations and institutions

- curbing and cracking down all forms of crime

I can say that my corporation was never interested in buying Zdarvlje of Leskovac and it is not interested in such a thing at this time either.

How true are news that you still have great political ambitions and that you will run for president in Serbia once again ?

I do not have what you called "great political ambitions", but I do feel very responsible for the people who voted for me and my economic program - full employment, regular wages and pensions, a better living standard...You know I won 1,604,000 votes in the 1992 elections, as said by the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and its commanders. Do you know that the OSCE found out that even the 1992 elections were rigged?

I know I have to help Serbia and I won't stop doing so, because I never did. Not while I was prime minister, not after that, and I certainly won't stop now. Whether I am going to run as candidate or not is less significant at this time.