(25 Jul 1999) Natural Sound
25-thousand opposition supporters took to the streets in the southern Serbian city of Nis on Saturday, in the largest anti-Milosevic gathering since the end of the NATO bombing campaign.
The rally, led by Vuk Draskovic of the Serbian Renewal, called for the resignation of President Milosevic.
Draskovic told the crowds that the Serbian leader had now become a figure of the past and had no choice but to go.
The rally in Nis was the second opposition demonstration of the day. Earlier, thousands of protesters had gathered in the northern Serbian town of Sombor.
It was the largest opposition protest since the end of NATO's bombing campaign of Yugoslavia.
About 25-thousand demonstrators took to the streets in the southern Serbian city of Nis, stepping up the pressure on President Milosevic.
This rally had been called by the man who's now decided to oppose Milosevic, but who refuses to join the opposition umbrella group, the Alliance for Change.
Despite having virtually identical demands for change as the Alliance, Vuk Draskovic, leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, has launched his own series of separate anti-Milosevic rallies.
He told the enthusiastic crowds that President Milosevic was now a figure of the past and must resign.
As had both the Serb and Yugoslav governments.
SOUNDBITE( Serbian):
"Not a single member of the federal government, not a single member of the
republican parliament can leave the country, they can go nowhere in the world, nobody wants to come and talk with them...of course that we want to see peaceful transition and handover of power. This is peaceful movement with just a one commander, and this is Serbia with its national interest. If it is in the interest of the nation, you have to go."
SUPER CAPTION: Vuk Draskovic, leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement
Though protests have been growing, prospects for a transitional government or any substantial loosening of Milosevic's grip on power remain slim.
While the opposition is chronically divided, Milosevic continues to control crucial levers of power, including the federal army, the police and the state-run media.
Both sides of the opposition are vying for the support of Serbs angry over the misery they suffered under 11 weeks of NATO airstrikes.
There is also anger at the loss of Kosovo, a province Serbs regard as holy territory.
But despite the continuing protests, President Milosevic was given a boost earlier this week.
A top Yugoslav army general warned that the military will support Milosevic and would move to stop opposition attempts to unseat him.
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