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West wants elections to end Bosnian Serb power struggle
August 16, 1997
Web posted at: 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT)SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- Western countries will seek early elections in Bosnia's Serb territory to try to force hard-line nationalist Radovan Karadzic to relinquish power and face trial for war crimes, diplomats said Saturday.
Karadzic pushed through Friday's ruling in the Bosnian Serb Constitutional Court that struck down a decision by his rival, President Biljana Plavsic, to dissolve parliament and call early elections. The court gave no explanation for the ruling and said it would release a full legal opinion soon.
The office of the international High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, blamed "political pressure" from Karadzic loyalists for the court's decision.
Westendorp's deputy, Gerd Wagner, said Karadzic and his allies wanted to shore up their position in their power struggle with Plavsic.
"They are reinforcing their dams. The tide is against them," Wagner told Reuters.
The United States and European states agreed that early elections called by Plavsic were the only way out of the current crisis in Serb territory, Wagner said.
"We feel that there is growing dissatisfaction in Republika Srpska (Serb republic) with some positions that the leadership has taken and that people in Republika Srpska want to be part of Europe.
"They are not happy with being isolated," he said.
United States asks OSCE to oversee elections
Plavsic has accused her opponents of rampant corruption and of damaging Serb interests by blocking peacemaking efforts. She has won strong international support in her power struggle, and Western governments hope she and opposition parties can erode Karadzic's authority in an election.
But international mediators first have to lay the legal ground for early elections. Western officials said Westendorp may choose to exercise his authority as high representative and overrule the Bosnian Serb court.
Washington wanted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to supervise the Serb elections, but Russia had not yet backed the proposal.
The OSCE was expected to meet, maybe next week, to decide if it will supervise the Bosnian Serb vote, diplomats said.
With Karadzic allies refusing to participate in elections, diplomats are concerned the conflict could create two rival authorities -- one in Banja Luka run by Plavsic and another in Pale outside Sarajevo, loyal to the former president.
NATO crackdown threatens Karadzic
Bosnian Serb Deputy Premier Djuradj Banjac resigned Saturday to protest the Supreme Court ruling, Banja Luka TV reported.
An independent radio station in Belgrade reported that two deputy premiers resigned. The usually reliable B-92 radio station reported Ostoja Kremenovic also resigned Saturday. At least seven party members have quit in the aftermath of the power struggle between Plavsic and allies of Karadzic.
The power struggle in Serb territory intensified amid growing international pressure for Karadzic to face trial before the U.N. war crimes tribunal, which has indicted him for crimes against humanity.
Karadzic's once-unassailable authority was threatened by NATO plans to crack down on Serb special police units which form the backbone of his rule.
The NATO-led peace force announced last week that special police would have to submit to strict supervision by peacekeeping troops and would no longer be allowed to guard suspected war criminals such as Karadzic.
NATO would not say if it had set a deadline for the special police to withdraw from posts around Karadzic's home and office, but the tougher policy fed speculation that Karadzic might be snatched or spirited to a third country.
U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke, architect of the Dayton peace agreement, warned that Karadzic could face the same fate as two suspects apprehended last month in a NATO raid.
"A free Karadzic is incompatible with a peaceful Bosnia," Holbrooke was quoted as saying in an interview with the German news weekly Focus.
Holbrooke said he told Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serb member of Bosnia's collective presidency, that Karadzic must be delivered to the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Holbrooke notes some progress on Dayton peace accord - August 9, 1997
Related sites:
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- Bosnia - Keeping the Peace - Time Magazine
- U.S. Policy for Establishing a Durable Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- BosNet.org - information about Bosnia
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