From Early Elections to a Constitution-creating Parliament

by Dragoslav Grujic

On January 10, 2000, the biggest opposition parties and coalitions in Serbia requested the scheduling of all-level early elections in Serbia by the end of April, and agreed to organize a joint rally in March. On January 19, the leaders of the opposition parties agreed that their decision on their participation in potential elections would decisively depend on the election conditions, and that whatever happens, the decision will be made jointly.
In their third joint document (of March 3, 2000) they offered their platform on the future Serbia that will come after the regime has been changed and the victory of the opposition.

The First Document (January 10, 2000):

Early Elections: The ruling parties have been invited to a meeting with the opposition parties to discuss the scheduling of early elections on all levels by the end of April.

The State Terrorism: The opposition parties request the discontinuation of all acts of state terrorism and of lawlessness in all its forms, as well as the prosecution of crime perpetrators and organizers.

State with a Firm Legal System: The opposition parties request annulment of the current repressive laws (particularly the ones on the University and Information).

Kosovo: The opposition parties request a prompt implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosovo-Metohia, and the proclamation of local self-government for the Serbs, Gorans, Muslims, Romes and other non-Albanian national communities in Kosovo.

Sanctions: The opposition parties request the urgent lifting of the sanctions on air traffic and gas supplies for Serbia.

Federation: The democratic opposition is for Serbia's and Montenegro's equal legal position in the FRY institutions.

Minorities: The democratic opposition of Serbia is for the highest respect of the national, cultural and religion rights of the Hungarians, Albanians, Romanians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croatians, Russians, Muslims, and other national communities in Serbia.

Self-government: The opposition parties request de-centralization of the administration and strengthening of the local and regional self-management.

The Activity Tactic: The opposition parties invite the conscientious and responsible members of the ruling coalition to give support to these requests. We also announce that a big joint rally of the opposition will be held in March.

The Second Document (January 19, 2000)

Elections: The decision on elections will decisively depend on the election conditions. The opposition leaders comment on some current announcements that only local elections might be scheduled, by saying that they will be adamantly sticking to their decision that the participation in any elections will depend on the election conditions.

Kosovo: The participants of the meeting are against the idea of any separate elections for Kosovo, and announce that an expert group will be formed and sent to Kosovo -Metohia.

Diaspora: The participants advocate the right to vote for all our citizens living abroad.

State Terrorism: The participants of the meeting most strongly condemn the escalation of terrorism in Serbia and the pressure on the legal institutions, which leave the crimes unsolved and the criminals undiscovered.

Media: The opposition parties-participants in the meeting advocate clear relations with the media, which must be open to all political options. They will respect the freedom of the media, particularly of the local media in the cities where the opposition is participating in the administration. The participants have agreed that none of them, whatever position he may win in the future administration, would ever try to influence the editorial policy of any media. The participants reiterated their request for a new information law.

NGO-s: The participants of the meeting expect full support of the non-governmental organizations, independent trade unions, university and student organizations, expert teams and other civic organizations, in their battle for early democratic elections.

Tactic: The parties and the coalitions, whose representatives participated in the meeting, will immediately commence their joint presentations in the public all other activities all over Serbia.

The Third Document (March3, 2000):

Federation: Serbian-Montenegrin relations should be re-defined according to the will of the people in both federal units.

Constitution-creating Parliament: For the purpose of solving the status of the country, the opposition parties request the making of the new republican Constitution.

Self-management: Serbia will be constituted as a democratic and de-centralized state, with a strong local and regional self-management (for example in Sandzak or Raska region, with a due respect for the historically formed aspects of autonomy in Vojvodina and Kosovo-Metohia).

Kosovo: Only when the return of all, and above all of the Serbian population, has been realized, there will be conditions for establishing the democratic, multi-ethnic institutions in this region.

Integration: New, democratically elected leadership in Serbia, together with Montenegro's leadership, will be endeavoring to normalize the country's relations with all other countries, and will be working on FRY's prompt inclusion in the international institutions and European integrations.

National Policy: By defining the national interests and national policy through democratic institutions and public life, the national interest of the Serbs will be defined.

The Serbian Space: All parts of the Serbian national corpus (both in Serbia and in Diaspora) should work together to build a joint cultural and spiritual space, while the mother country should be the one in charge of that.

Minorities: All rights for the minorities will be guaranteed according to the highest UN, OSCE and European Council standards, including the right on self-organization. In the particularly emphasized multi-national areas, the new state will establish mechanisms of a positive discrimination (which means that the state institutions will reflect the national make-up of the area). With the neighboring countries the new administration should make agreements on mutual protection of the minority communities.

State with a Firm Legal System: The new administration will secure the rule of law, of legal equality of the citizens, the independent judiciary and the freedom of the media.

Economy: The economy will be based on free enterpreneurship, the trade union organizing and private ownership, with a possibility of having state ownership in the strategic sectors.

Privatization and De-nationalization: The privatization done so far, will be annulled in all cases in which it had been executed in secrecy and illegally, or has been harmful for the common social interest. De-nationalization will be carried out wherever possible.

Social Policy: Special social contributions will be provided for the most endangered categories - pensioners and the unemployed, while a special program for the reconstruction of health protection will be created.