Serbia embraces democratic rule

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Serbia's new reformist government has taken the reigns of power after its parliament voted in the country's first democratic regime in half-a-century.

New Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, rewarded for his role in helping oust former president Slobodan Milosevic last October, told the parliament he would introduce a major package of reforms and work towards creating a prosperous country.

Djindjic, the 48-year-old who heads the Democratic Party, and who had spent time in Germany escaping arrest by Milosevic's authorities in the 1980s, also promised that those accused of war crimes would be held to account.

He was speaking as the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, left Belgrade disappointed on Thursday after Yugoslav leaders rejected her demands that Milosevic be tried in the Netherlands rather than before domestic tribunals.

The parliament of Serbia, the dominant republic in the two-member Yugoslav federation, appointed the new cabinet with 168 votes in favour and 55 against following a lengthy debate on the Balkan state's future.

The government, formed after the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) reform alliance crushed Milosevic's Socialists in December elections, faces expectations both at home and abroad on delivering speedy reform and the combat of crime as well as the bringing of its previous leader to justice.

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The formation of a new government removed Milosevic's allies from their last serious bastion of power after a popular uprising on October 5, 2000, forced him to concede defeat to Vojislav Kostunica in federal presidential elections held in September.

Presenting his cabinet's programme to parliament earlier on Thursday, prime minister Djindjic pledged to introduce major reforms to bring dramatic improvements to life in Serbia, impoverished by years of authoritarian rule, regional wars and corruption.

He also signaled a clampdown on alleged Milosevic-era crime and corruption, saying those behind political killings and other criminality faced prosecution.

"Those who ordered and carried out these murders have to be brought to justice," Djindjic said.

The vote came at the same time reports said another vestige of Milosevic's former rule, Serbia's state security chief, had resigned.

Beta news agency reported that Serbian state security chief Rade Markovic -- once a crucial ally of Milosevic -- had quit.

The reformers had called for his dismissal in October and Markovic is reported to have offered it, but Kostunica had turned it down, wanting a stable transition.

His "hasty replacement" could have threatened democratic change, he had said, and instead Markovic was intended to stay on until the new Serbian Government had been formed.

His replacement will Goran Petrovic, a police official who had been dismissed under Milosevic, the agency said.

A special commission will be set up to investigate the work of the police and state security in the Milosevic era.

Leading reformers often accused Markovic's secret police of responsibility for mysterious kidnappings and violent deaths that characterised the final years of Milosevic's turbulent decade in power.

Serbia 'last in Europe'

Meanwhile Djindjic said Milosevic should be tried in Yugoslavia for any alleged war crime adding that those who had committed war crimes against civilians had smeared the name of the Serb people.

"We do not want to carry collective responsibility over this. If there is individual responsibility, all the cases will be brought to our judiciary and will be punished," he said.

In his speech, Djindjic also stressed the urgent need for economic reform, describing the situation in Serbia as "dramatically bad" and saying Serbia was last in Europe in terms of living standards, security, technology and infrastructure.

"Today we are far away from what we desire and what we see as a modern and efficient Serb state," he added.

He vowed that the government would bequeath its successor a prosperous country at the end of its four-year mandate.

The reformers control more than two-thirds of the assembly's 250 seats, so the outcome of the vote was never in doubt, but the debate dragged on into the evening, ranging from the poor economy to the situation in internationally run Kosovo.

The leader of the ultranationalist Radical Party, Vojislav Seselj, accused DOS of causing a sharp fall in the population's purchasing power in the last few months.

The Radical Party had delayed the government's formation after it contested the legitimacy of 19-polling station results in the December 23 vote.

Djindjic made clear his aim was to break with more than five decades of authoritarian rule, first under Tito's communists and then under Milosevic's Socialists.

"It will be the first time in 60 years that Serbia has a democratic parliament and will have a truly democratic government," he declared.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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