Saturday Morning News

Milosevic Faces Crucial Test in Yugoslav Elections

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In international news, a landmark vote is set to get under way tomorrow in Yugoslavia. Voters there will get their first chance to directly choose their leader. For President Slobodan Milosevic, it's a crucial test.

CNN Belgrade Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci has the latest -- Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra.

Well, to give you a little bit of an idea about how the two camps here are divided between the pro-Milosevic and the pro-Kostunitza (ph), I brought you some newspapers that were issued earlier today here in Belgrade. The pro-opposition magazine "Vremer" here showing a big picture of Mr. Kostunitza, the opposition candidate, with the headline "We Will Protect Our Victory." So this newspaper predicting a Kostunitza victory and also predicting that they will have to protect that victory because, they say, Mr. Milosevic will try to steal that victory from them.

Another opposition newspaper or a newspaper which is sympathizing with the opposition, an appeal by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pable (ph) calling on all political parties to respect the will of the people and to respect the result of the elections.

If we go to the government owned newspapers, government controlled newspapers, the situation is slightly different. No mention whatsoever on "Vicherninovisti (ph)" about the elections, only the fact that 65,000 more jobs have been created in Yugoslavia this year alone and also a headline here about a new bridge that is being rebuilt in Novisad (ph), Yugoslavia's third largest -- no, second largest city, a bridge that was destroyed by NATO bombs last year.

And finally, one last newspaper, Politica (ph), a government newspaper, as well. Small, a little mention here of the elections on the left hand side. The rest of the newspaper, again, the Novisad bridge, a strong attack against U.S. capitalism and again, yet another reminder that NATO bombed this country last year. So this is what the newspapers are saying here this morning in Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, there has been some concerns, especially in the west but also among some opposition figures here, that Mr. Milosevic may try to rig the vote. These are accusations that the Yugoslav government here is denying. They have invited about 250 international observers from about 50 countries like India, China, Iraq, Russia. They have not allowed any international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is an organization that has monitored elections in other Balkan countries in recent years.

They're saying, Yugoslav officials are saying that the USC has participated in some way to the, into the bombing campaign last year and so it would be completely immoral to have members of that organization to come here and monitor the elections.

There are, however, some European observers, non-government officials, because, of course, the government in Europe have made clear, like the United States, that they would like to see Mr. Milosevic to go. But these people from Europe are members of political parties which are in opposition to the government in Europe and perhaps also some non-government organizations.

The opposition here is saying that they will have their own monitors. They will have just about a monitor at each of the 9,000 polling stations scattered throughout Yugoslavia.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Alessio Vinci with the latest on the Yugoslav election, thank you.

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