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Kostunica Names Montenegrin to Save Yugoslav Federation
BELGRADE, July 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - President Vojislav Kostunica asked former finance minister Dragisa Pesic of Montenegro on Tuesday to form the new federal government - a move seen as a last-ditch effort to salvage the Yugoslav federation.
Pesic, 47, will replace Zoran Zizic, who resigned on June 29 to protest the handover of former president Slobodan Milosevic to the U.N. tribunal in The Hague to stand trial for war crimes.
Pesic, like Zizic, is a member of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) of Montenegro, which was allied with Milosevic until he was ousted from power last year.
"The SNP has put forward the name of Dragisa Pesic and I don't see any reason why I would not accept this proposal," said Kostunica.
Pesic is expected to name his cabinet within the coming week, the Tanjug news agency reported. The BBC online service said that he would begin talks with coalition partners in a few days.
One of the major tasks facing the new federal government is the drafting of a plan to redefine relations between Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia's two constituent republics.
The federation - all that is left of Yugoslavia following the wars of secession in the 1990s - was seriously shaken by the handover of Milosevic, and the government itself fell after Zizic's resignation.
Serbian leaders decided to hand over Milosevic for trial despite opposition from federal authorities and leaders in Montenegro, where many of Milosevic's relatives and allies live.
In his first remarks following his appointment, Pesic said he would "try above all to smooth over relations between Montenegro and Serbia ... and intensify the return of the federation to international organizations."
A former Milosevic ally himself, Pesic, who is trained as an economist, held the finance portfolio in two successive governments, under both Zizic and his predecessor, Momir Bulatovic.
Milosevic was brought down after a popular revolt in October. After being jailed on corruption charges in a dramatic standoff on April 1, he was indicted by The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Serbian troops against Kosovar Albanian Muslims in the 1998-1999 crackdowns.
Later, he was also indicted for war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia.
The Hague has also asked Bosnian Serbs to hand over Milosevic's commanders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, also indicted for crimes; the two are believed to be hiding in the mountainous wilderness of the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska.
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