RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 212, 99-11-01

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 212, 1 November 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] SLAIN ARMENIAN LEADERS BURIED

[02] U.S., RUSSIA EXPRESS SUPPORT

[03] ARMENIAN MILITARY DENY TENSIONS WITH PRESIDENT

[04] PROCEDURAL VIOLATIONS MAR GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARY POLL...

[05] ...WHILE RULING PARTY HEADED FOR VICTORY

[06] U.S. DIPLOMAT IN TBILISI

[07] POLISH PRESIDENT VISITS AZERBAIJAN...

[08] ...AND KAZAKHSTAN

[09] OSCE PRAISES KAZAKHSTAN'S LANGUAGE POLICY

[10] KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA TO COOPERATE IN INVESTIGATING ROCKET

[11] TAJIK OPPOSITION AGAIN CALLS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PRESIENTIAL

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE AHEAD IN FIRST ROUND OF

[13] VIOLENT INCIDENTS REPORTED DURING MACEDONIAN VOTING

[14] TWO OPPOSITION PARTIES WITHDRAW FROM ANTI-MILOSEVIC STREET

[15] SOME 10,000 ATTEND ANTI-MILOSEVIC DEMONSTRATION IN CACAK

[16] YUGOSLAV OPPOSITION REPRESENTATIVES FLY TO U.S.

[17] NATO COMMANDER CONDEMNS ATTACK ON SERBIAN CONVOY

[18] ETHNIC CROATS EVACUATED FROM KOSOVA

[19] MONTENEGRO TO START USING GERMAN MARK

[20] BOSNIAN CROAT WAR CRIMES SUSPECT REFUSING TREATMENT

[21] INVESTIGATION CONTINUES INTO CAR BOMB ATTACK ON BOSNIAN SERB

[22] GERMAN CHANCELLOR PRAISES LEADERSHIP OF JOINT PRESIDENCY IN

[23] NUMBER OF U.S. TROOPS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA TO BE REDUCED

[24] CROATIAN LAWMAKERS PASS ELECTION LAW

[25] NEW ALBANIAN CABINET SWORN IN

[26] EU COMMISSIONER PROPOSES MONITORING OF ROMANIA'S ECONOMIC

[27] ANOTHER ANTONESCU STATUE TO BE ERECTED IN ROMANIA

[28] GAZPROM CUTS ENERGY SUPPLIES TO MOLDOVA

[29] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET

[30] BULGARIAN TURKISH PARTY BOYCOTTS MAYORAL INAUGURATION

[C] END NOTE

[31] ALBANIA'S PRIME MINISTER CALLS IT QUITS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] SLAIN ARMENIAN LEADERS BURIED

including former President Levon Ter-Petrossian, attended the

31 October funeral services in Yerevan of slain Prime

Minister Vazgen Sargsian, parliamentary speaker Karen

Demirchian, his two deputies, a government minister, and two

parliamentary deputies gunned down in the legislature on 27

October. The eighth victim of the shootings was buried on 30

October. Also attending was a large Russian delegation,

including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, State Duma speaker

Gennadii Seleznev, and former Defense Minister Pavel Grachev,

as well as Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Belarusian

Premier Syarhei Linh, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal

Kharrazi, Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, and

Turkish state minister Ali Irtemcelik. Speaking at the

funeral ceremony, President Robert Kocharian termed the

killings "an irreparable loss" and called on Armenians to

"close ranks and stand by the Republic of Armenia," RFE/RL's

Yerevan bureau reported. LF

[02] U.S., RUSSIA EXPRESS SUPPORT

Kocharian in Yerevan on 29 October, U.S. Deputy Secretary of

State Strobe Talbott offered his condolences over the

shootings and assured Kocharian of his country's readiness to

offer "every kind of support" in overcoming the crisis, Noyan

Tapan and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Talbott added

that that he believes the democratic process in Armenia is

irreversible. During talks with Kocharian the following day,

Russian Premier Putin similarly expressed Moscow's support

for the Armenian president. Putin also noted that the

murdered men were all "true friends of Russia." LF

[03] ARMENIAN MILITARY DENY TENSIONS WITH PRESIDENT

Sargsian's Republican Party of Armenia on 30 October denied

that there are differences between the military and President

Kocharian over the choice of a new prime minister and

cabinet, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Kocharian told

journalists on 30 October after his talks with Putin that an

entirely new government will probably be named. According to

press reports, the military also oppose the appointment of

Republican Party Chairman Andranik Markarian to succeed

Demirchian as parliamentary speaker. The Republican Party on

30 October endorsed the Defense Ministry's call two days

earlier for the sacking of the interior and national security

ministers. Meanwhile the five gunmen have been charged with

terrorism and pre-meditated murder, Noyan Tapan reported on 1

November. LF

[04] PROCEDURAL VIOLATIONS MAR GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARY POLL...

than 60 percent of the Georgian electorate cast their votes

in the 31 October parliamentary elections. Both pro-

government and opposition figures cited violations of

election procedure, including restrictions on voting in some

constituencies in Adjaria and the mountain region of

Lentehki, the theft of a ballot box in Gori, an attempt by an

opposition member of the Central Electoral Commission to hack

into the commission's computer, and an attempt at ballot

stuffing by a commission member who belongs to the ruling

Union of Citizens of Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. LF

[05] ...WHILE RULING PARTY HEADED FOR VICTORY

the ballot papers counted, the Union of Citizens of Georgia,

which has a majority in the outgoing parliament, had won more

than 30 of the 75 seats allocated in single-mandate

constituencies plus some 44 percent of the party-list vote.

The Union for the Revival of Georgia polled 23 percent of the

party list vote. Its leader, Adjar Supreme Council chairman

Aslan Abashidze, claimed that the authorities had falsified

the results, according to Reuters. The Labor Party and the

bloc Industry Will Save Georgia are close to surmounting the

7 percent barrier for representation in the new parliament.

LF

[06] U.S. DIPLOMAT IN TBILISI

Talbott and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze met in

Tbilisi on 29 October to discuss regional conflicts,

including Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and preparations for

the OCSE Istanbul summit later this month, ITAR-TASS and

Caucasus Press reported. They also focused on the planned

construction of the Baku-Ceyhan oil export pipeline and the

Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. Talbott endorsed the Georgian

leadership's economic policy and its crackdown on corruption.

LF

[07] POLISH PRESIDENT VISITS AZERBAIJAN...

October, Aleksandr Kwasniewski met with his Azerbaijani

counterpart, Heidar Aliev, to discuss Poland's support for

Azerbaijan's accession to the World Trade Organization and

integration into European structures, including full

membership in the Council of Europe, Turan reported. Possible

Polish involvement in the GUUAM alignment (Georgia, Ukraine,

Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) was also discussed.

Kwasniewski said Poland is ready to help prepare NATO's

Caucasus strategy. The two presidents also discussed Polish

participation in the construction of cement plants and sugar

mills in Azerbaijan and the prospects for the export via

Poland of Azerbaijani oil transported via the Baku-Supsa

export pipeline. A memorandum on cooperation between Poland's

state oil and gas company and the Azerbaijani state oil

company SOCAR was signed at the meeting. LF

[08] ...AND KAZAKHSTAN

his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbaev, in Astana,

RFE/RL's bureau in the Kazakh capital reported. Those talks

focused on preparations for the OSCE Istanbul summit and the

prospects for Polish participation in construction projects

in Astana as well as in the export of Kazakhstan's oil via

Ukraine to the Polish port of Gdansk, ITAR-TASS reported.

Nazarbaev termed the $100 million annual trade turnover

between the two countries "not bad." LF

[09] OSCE PRAISES KAZAKHSTAN'S LANGUAGE POLICY

on 29 October with Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Qasymzhomart

Toqaev, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van

der Stoel positively assessed both Kazakhstan's language law

and efforts by the country's leadership to promote the use of

the Kazakh language, Interfax reported. Toqaev quoted

President Nazarbaev as aiming to establish trilingualism,

given the growing importance of English. LF

[10] KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA TO COOPERATE IN INVESTIGATING ROCKET

The Russian and Kazakh government commissions

formed to investigate the 27 October explosion of a Russian

Proton rocket shortly after blast-off from Baikonur announced

on 29 October that they will set up a joint headquarters and

three working groups, Interfax reported. But Kazakhstan's

Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Kiyanitsa said that an

assessment of the financial damage caused will be made only

after the commissions complete their work, according to ITAR-

TASS. Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Toqaev had said the

previous day that Kazakhstan will probably demand

compensation exceeding the $260,000 paid by Moscow after a

similar explosion in July. LF

[11] TAJIK OPPOSITION AGAIN CALLS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PRESIENTIAL

At a news conference in Dushanbe on 29 October, three

opposition would-be presidential candidates again called on

the country's leadership and international organizations to

agree to delay the 6 November presidential elections,

RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported. Equality Party leader

Saifiddin Turaev, Democratic Party (Tehran Platform) leader

Sultan Kuvatov, and Islamic Renaissance Party candidate and

Economics Minister Davlat Usmon proposed that incumbent

President Imomali Rakhmonov's term in office be extended

until June in order to give time to prepare for free and fair

elections. All three candidates had earlier called for a

postponement of the poll on the grounds that local officials

prevented them from collecting the minimum 145,000 signatures

required for registration (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 October

1999). The Central Electoral Commission nonetheless

subsequently registered Usmon, who on 29 October formally

requested that his registration be termed invalid. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE AHEAD IN FIRST ROUND OF

Early results from the 31 October

Macedonian presidential elections show that Social Democratic

candidate Tito Petkovski and Deputy Foreign Minister Boris

Trajkovski will advance to the second round, Reuters reported

on 1 November. With neither of the two leading candidates

likely to win 50 percent of the vote, a second round of

voting will probably be held on 14 November. Early returns

showed Petkovski with 340,000 votes, Trajkovski with 214,000

votes, and a third candidate, Vasil Tupurkovski, with 158,000

votes. Voter turnout was reported to be relatively high.

Trajkovski ran on the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary

Organization's (VMRO) ticket, while Tupurkovski was the

Democratic Alternative's candidate. Both parties are members

of the governing coalition. VG

[13] VIOLENT INCIDENTS REPORTED DURING MACEDONIAN VOTING

three incidents of violence were reported during Macedonia's

31 October presidential election. A representative of the

Social Democrats said one of the party's activists was shot

in the leg in the town of Kumanovo during a fight with a

representative of the governing coalition. Other violent

incidents were reported in the villages of Morane and

Velesta. Meanwhile, various parties have accused one another

of violating electoral rules that forbid campaigning on

election day. VG

[14] TWO OPPOSITION PARTIES WITHDRAW FROM ANTI-MILOSEVIC STREET

Opposition leaders Mile Isakov and Nenad Canak on

29 October announced their intention to withdraw from daily

street protests against Yugoslav President Slobodan

Milosevic, Reuters reported. Isakov said the daily protests

are wasting energy without providing a "plan." Canak added

that the opposition should search for other ways of opposing

Milosevic. "The point is not to hold rallies but to

participate in the toppling of Milosevic's regime," he said.

VG

[15] SOME 10,000 ATTEND ANTI-MILOSEVIC DEMONSTRATION IN CACAK

of Cacak on 29 October. Cacak is considered to be an

opposition stronghold and the turnout was regarded as

relatively high amid dwindling attendance at opposition

rallies in other cities. Some key opposition leaders,

including Zoran Djindjic, addressed the rally. VG

[16] YUGOSLAV OPPOSITION REPRESENTATIVES FLY TO U.S.

Yugoslav opposition leaders flew to Washington, D.C., in a

bid to convince Bill Clinton's administration to ease

economic sanctions against the country. Slobodan Vuksanovic,

the deputy head of the opposition Democratic Party, said the

U.S. should "establish a distinction between Milosevic's

regime and the citizens," AP reported. VG

[17] NATO COMMANDER CONDEMNS ATTACK ON SERBIAN CONVOY

commander in Kosova, General Klaus Reinhardt, said on 30

October he is "furious" at a recent attack by some 1,500

ethnic Albanians on a convoy of 155 Serbs (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 29 October 1999). Reinhardt said he believes the

attack was spontaneous and noted that measures are being

taken to increase the security of ethnic Serbs in Kosova. VG

[18] ETHNIC CROATS EVACUATED FROM KOSOVA

have been evacuated from Kosova to Zagreb, AP reported on 31

October. The ethnic Croats say they had suffered harassment

in Kosova. VG

[19] MONTENEGRO TO START USING GERMAN MARK

Prime Minister Novak Kilibarda on 1 November confirmed

reports that Montenegro would introduce the German mark as

its second currency on 2 November. "Vjesti" had reported that

Montenegrins would start receiving their salaries and

pensions on that day. The change is viewed as a first step

toward the introduction of a separate Montenegrin currency

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 October 1999). The decision must

still be formally approved by the Montenegrin parliament.

Yugoslav officials on 29 October had dismissed Montenegro's

stated aim to introduce its own currency. VG

[20] BOSNIAN CROAT WAR CRIMES SUSPECT REFUSING TREATMENT

Naletilic is rejecting any further treatment at a Zagreb

hospital following recent heart surgery, AP reported. Doctors

at the hospital say Naletilic's heart surgery was a success

but added that another operation is urgently needed.

Naletilic has been indicted on 17 counts of war crimes during

the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Doctors have

assigned him to a psychological team, hoping that it will

persuade him to undergo more surgery. The war crimes tribunal

in The Hague on 28 October accused the Croatian government of

stalling in handing over Naletilic as well as documents to be

used as evidence in the case. The international community

view the Naletilic case as a litmus test of Croatia's

willingness to cooperate with the tribunal. VG

[21] INVESTIGATION CONTINUES INTO CAR BOMB ATTACK ON BOSNIAN SERB

Bosnian Serb journalist and publisher Zeljko

Kopanja has had both his legs amputated after being seriously

injured in a car bomb explosion on 22 October (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 22 October 1999), AP reported on 29 October.

Experts from the UN international police force in Bosnia-

Herzegovina have reportedly recommended that the wrecked car

be investigated by Scotland Yard. Kopanja's newspaper

"Nezavisne Novine" recently ran a series of articles on war

criminals. Several newspapers and magazines from the Serbian

as well as Muslim and Croatian parts of the country have run

front-page headlines demanding an investigation into the

assassination attempt. VG

[22] GERMAN CHANCELLOR PRAISES LEADERSHIP OF JOINT PRESIDENCY IN

Gerhard Schroeder on 29 October said he

is pleased to find "common views" among the visiting members

of the joint presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, dpa reported.

He said the three leaders, Ante Jelavic, Alija Izetbegovic,

and Zivko Radisic, expressed a strong desire for their

country to be admitted to the Council of Europe. The German

leader noted that Bosnia will have to undertake reforms

before being admitted to the organization. VG

[23] NUMBER OF U.S. TROOPS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA TO BE REDUCED

U.S. troops taking part in the NATO-led peacekeeping force in

Bosnia-Herzegovina will be reduced by 30 percent by next

April. Major General James Campbell, commander of

Multinational Division North, said the cut is part of an

overall NATO plan to reduce the number of troops in the

country, resulting from an improvement in local security

conditions. VG

[24] CROATIAN LAWMAKERS PASS ELECTION LAW

Croatian legislature on 29 October passed a controversial new

election law, Reuters reported. The law, which was proposed

by the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ),

guarantees representation to the diaspora in December's

parliamentary elections (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 October

1999). Croats living abroad tend to be pro-HDZ. The EU has

criticized the law, saying it "calls into question the

government's commitment to free and fair elections." VG

[25] NEW ALBANIAN CABINET SWORN IN

government have retained their posts in the cabinet of newly

appointed Prime Minister Ilir Meta, which was sworn into

office on 29 October. The defense, interior, foreign affairs,

and finance ministers of the previous cabinet have all

retained their posts. The newcomers include Deputy Prime

Minister Makbule Ceco, Kastriot Islami as minister of

economic cooperation, Bashkim Fino as minister of local

government, and State Minister Prec Zogaj, AP reported. Meta

said his government will focus on restoring public order,

fighting illegal drug trafficking, and economic development

(see also "End Note"). VG

[26] EU COMMISSIONER PROPOSES MONITORING OF ROMANIA'S ECONOMIC

Guenter Verheugen, EU commissioner in charge of

enlargement, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Radu Vasile

proposing that the IMF, the World Bank and the EU draft a

medium-term strategy for economic development and set up a

body to monitor the plan's implementation, Romanian media

reported on 31 October. Vasile has not responded to the

proposal, but Deputy Premier Vasile Stoica rejected it,

saying that the monitoring of Romania's economic performance

would make sense only after the IMF approves the disbursement

of the second tranche of the $547 million stand-by loan

approved in August. IMF official Thomas Dowson was quoted by

Romanian Radio as refusing to confirm reports that the fund

is ready to agree that Romania borrow $100 million on the

international financial market to cover its budget deficit.

Earlier, it had insisted that the country borrow $470 million

for that purpose. MS

[27] ANOTHER ANTONESCU STATUE TO BE ERECTED IN ROMANIA

local council has approved Mayor Gheorghe Funar's proposal

that a statue to Romania's wartime leader and convicted war

criminal, Marshal Ion Antonescu be erected, "Romania libera"

reported on 1 November. On 11 previous occasions, the council

has rejected such a proposal. Its change of mind comes after

Funar presented a "political compromise" whereby statues of

National Liberal Party leader Ion C. Bratianu, National

Peasant Party leader Iuliu Maniu, and King Ferdinand will

also be erected. The compromise proposal was backed by

representatives of two parties on the local council and

opposed only by the Hungarian Democratic Federation of

Romania and the Alliance for Romania. On 30 October, Greater

Romania Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor laid a wreath at

Antonescu's statue in Slobozia. MS

[28] GAZPROM CUTS ENERGY SUPPLIES TO MOLDOVA

Gazprom will cut its energy supplies to Moldova by 40

percent, Infotag reported on 29 October. The same day,

Gazprom Deputy Chairmen Aleksander Pushkin and Vasilii Fadeev

handed over to Moldovan government representatives a letter

from Gazprom Chairman Rem Vyakhirev saying that Moldova has

failed to pay on time for current gas deliveries and reduce

its outstanding debt. Fadeev said that negotiations are under

way on restructuring the Moldovan debt, which Moldovan

officials say now totals $489 million. Of that sum, $310

million is owed by Tiraspol. An additional $277 million is

due in fines for overdue payments. Flux reported that energy

supplies from Romania and Ukraine will be diverted to

Chisinau to avoid plunging the capital into darkness but that

this will cause serious problems in the countryside. MS

[29] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET

28 October approved a draft 2000 budget providing for 4

percent GDP growth, a deficit equal to 2.3 percent of GDP,

and an annual inflation rate of 2.8 percent, BTA reported.

Finance Minister Muravei Radev said that 15,000 people

employed in the government administration will be laid off in

2000 to reduce budget expenditures. Wages in the public

sector are to increase by 5 percent, while the minimum wage

will increase by 8 percent and pensions by 13 percent. MS

[30] BULGARIAN TURKISH PARTY BOYCOTTS MAYORAL INAUGURATION

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) on 29 October

boycotted the opening session of the newly elected local

council in Kurdzhali, BTA and AP reported. The DPS claims

3,000 ballots were incorrectly declared invalid by the

electoral commission. It has appealed to the local court to

order a recount. The DPS lost its majority on the local

council and also lost the town's mayoralty to a candidate

representing the ruling Union of Democratic Forces. On 29

October, Prime Minister Ivan Kostov denied in the parliament

that he called the DPS "a curse for Bulgaria." MS

[C] END NOTE

[31] ALBANIA'S PRIME MINISTER CALLS IT QUITS

Prime Minister Pandeli Majko announced his resignation

on 26 October. His successor, Ilir Meta, is likely to

continue his reformist policies but will be in a more

vulnerable position, facing interference by influential

Socialist Party leader and former Prime Minister Fatos Nano.

In resigning, Majko drew the consequences of his defeat

in the vote for Socialist Party leader at a congress in early

October. His rival, Nano, beat him by a small margin in that

ballot. Majko's resignation nonetheless came as a surprise,

since he initially had pledged to continue as premier,

despite his defeat in the party leadership vote. He had

argued that he still enjoys considerable support from within

the party and especially among Socialist legislators.

But during the days that followed, Nano increased

pressure on Majko, whom he had harshly attacked in the past

for his conciliatory political approach. Nano, along with

Democratic leader Sali Berisha, carries the most

responsibility for the polarization of political life between

the Socialists and Democrats. Not surprisingly, he is

considerably less willing than Majko to cooperate with the

Democrats and has repeatedly criticized Majko for maintaining

contacts with opposition politicians. Majko's approach,

however, appealed to many voters who are sick of the

polarization that has dominated Albanian politics throughout

most of the 1990s.

After the congress, Nano challenged the election of 36

members of the 116-strong Steering Committee, most of them

Majko supporters, because they received less than 50 percent

of the vote. Under party statutes, all members of the

Steering Committee must be elected with more than 50 percent

of the vote. Nonetheless, many Albanian political observers

and journalists regarded Nano's initiative as an attempt to

remove Majko's supporters from the committee and to

strengthen his position vis-a-vis the government. Some

observers pointed out that Nano did not call run-off votes at

party congresses in 1992 and 1996, when he was firmly in

charge and the candidates were all loyal to him

Subsequently, Majko and another 66 members of the

Steering Committee boycotted the ballot on 22 October in

Tirana, arguing that Nano was aiming to change the balance of

power in the committee. In the end, 73 percent of the

deputies to the congress took part in the run-off vote,

indicating that Nano remains able to mobilize large parts of

the party's rank-and-file. The "Albanian Daily News" noted

that "the session showed the undisputed authority of Nano in

the party." By the same token, the session showed that the

position of the 31-year-old former prime minister remains

precarious among his fellow Socialists.

Nano failed, however, to get his loyalists elected at

the expense of Majko's. The delegates approved the

controversial election of the 36 in a vote that appears to

have been a compromise between Majko's backers and Nano's

supporters. Delegates seemed to have realized that the two

rival wings need each other. While Nano's supporters within

the party are more numerous than Majko's, the latter's appeal

to the public is stronger than that of the combative Nano.

Majko, nonetheless, realized that his ability to make policy

beyond the reach of the powerful Nano had been considerably

limited as a result of the congress and therefore opted to

resign.

Majko's resignation, however, does not mean that the

conservative wing of the Socialist Party has taken over the

government. "Koha Ditore" on 27 October noted that new

Premier Meta is clearly from Majko's reformist wing within

the party. Meta was deputy prime minister under Majko and is

also the head of the Socialist Youth Forum, known as the

Eurosocialists. But he will have a more difficult task ahead

of him than did Majko before the party congress. Nano is now

clearly the most powerful party leader and is likely to

repeatedly challenge the government on general policy

questions.

The resignation of Majko marks the third major

government reshuffle since the Socialists came to power in

1997. The opposition is likely to revive its calls for new

elections, but the Socialists are unlikely to agree to an

early vote, fearing this would severely hamper the

government's reform plans shortly after the Kosova war and

possibly reduce their two-thirds majority in the parliament.

Meta will now have to prove that he can continue the work of

the government without becoming involved in politically

motivated disruptions.

01-11-99

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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