THE Serbian opposition suffered a double blow yesterday when its win in Belgrade was suspended pending an appeal by the ruling Socialists and a second court denied its claimed victory in another town.
One of the three main opposition leaders, Mr Vesna Pesic, responded to the setback by telling the latest rally in Belgrade that nothing would wipe away its victory in the capital, the jewel in the crown of its disputed wins across 14 cities and towns in local elections held on November 17th last year. "Nobody has been surprised by the court's decision, but nobody will renounce this victory," Mr Pesic told a crowd of around 30,000 people.
"If only the courts in Serbia would work according to their conscience. But they remain under the orders of the SPS [Socialist Party]," the Civic Alliance leader said. "Our next demonstrations will be for them and we are going to tell the judges that we don't want any more of their justice."
The electoral commission, overturning previous rulings, announced last Tuesday that the opposition coalition Together had won 60 seats on the 110 seat council, the SPS 23 and the Radical Party 15. But Judge Dragoljub Jankovic, head of the court in Belgrade, said the Supreme Court should designate another "more objective" court to rule on the complaints as the Belgrade judges had viewed the commission's decision "with amazement".
A spokesman for the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) said it had also appealed the opposition's victory in Belgrade. That prompted another leader of Together, Mr Vuk Draskovic, to warn that the SRS's support for the SPS heralded "a dark and bloody future for Serbia".
Mr Draskovic, leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, accused the ruling party's leader, President Slobodan Milosevic, of wanting, to start a civil war in Kosovo, Serbia's powderkeg province in the south, which has a huge ethnic Albanian majority. He said Mr Milosevic wanted a "bloodbath" to save his regime.
"The authorities have no right to believe that the patience of the people is eternal," the Democratic Party leader, Mr Zoran Djindjic - another Together leader - told the rally. Mr Djindjic appeared to rule out immediate foreign intervention in the two month standoff with the government.
Also yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Socialists had won the western town of Sabac.
The leader of France's main far right party, Mr Jean Marie Le Pen, is to travel to Belgrade today to discuss possible co operation with a Serb ultra nationalist group, a party official said yesterday.
During his four day stay in Belgrade, he will meet Mr Vojislav Seselj of the Serbian Radical Party and other ultra nationalists and, discuss links with his National Front (NF) party.