News for February 22nd, 1997

Several thousand students of Belgrade University took part in a walk to New Belgrade in order to protest against the lack of local authorities in this municipality, since it was not included in the OSCE report on the election results from 17. November.

Cedomir Jovanovic, a member of the Initiative board of the Student Protest 96/97, has stated that the students will not talk with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, because it "would be a privilege which has not been given him during his presidential career" and because the students consider him "a great deal responsible for the political situation in our country".

Jozef Kaza, the Mayor of Subotica, has handed the city keys to the participants of the Student Protest in that city, which is a gesture of a special tribute for their role in the democratization of the society.

The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) supported the demands of educational workers today who are on strike, and asked for a swift solution from the Serbian Government which would meet these justified demands.

'Independence', the Branch Syndicate of Serbian Educational Workers (GSPRS), decided to continue the strike of employees working in primary and secondary schools, and asked the schools which have begun class to carefully consider their decision to end their strike.

Vladan Batic, the removed Vice-President of the Democratic Party of Serbia said that the major problem in this party is lack of recognition of a historical moment and democratic movement in Serbia. He said that the restless part of this party is not looking to overthrow its president, Vojislav Kostunica, but to pull out of its lethargy and join the national uprising against the regime.

Bogoljub Karic, the owner of the "Braca Karic" company, has stated that, unless the coalition Zajedno found a right candidate for the approaching presidential election, he himself might announce his candidacy, reports the today's "Blic".

Headmasters of 15 primary and secondary schools in Jagodina have decided that, after the three-week strike, teachers and students should return to classrooms on Monday. Petar Jaksic, the president of the municipal board of the educators' syndicate in Jagodina, in respond to this attitude of headmasters, has scheduled a protest gathering of educators for today in the center of Jagodina. At the same time, the municipal board of the educators' syndicate appeals to all students and teachers not to enter their schools on Monday.

The Strike board of the part-time correspondents of RTV Politika has dissociated the participants of the strike from any political demands, as well as from the demands concerning the editorial policy and the dismissal of Goran Kozic, the editor-in-chief. In their announcement, the Strike board stated that the protest of the part-time correspondents of that television channel was "of exclusively social character" and that "its aim was not to discontinue the broadcasting, or to lower the quality of the program".

The participants of the today's joint session of the strike boards of Subotica schools did not reach a uniform decision concerning the continuation of the strike. Lectures will not be held in the secondary schools and in nine primary schools. Lectures will be held in six primary schools, but they will only last 30 minutes, whereas in seven primary schools lectures will be held regularly.

Novak Kilibarda and Predrag Popovic, the president and the head of the delegate team of the National Concord party, attended, as guests, the constitutive session of the Belgrade City Assembly and the proclamation of Zoran Djindjic as the first democratically elected Mayor in the post-war period. According to the Montena-fax news agency, the National Concord party announces today that an agreement about the future cooperation between the coalition Zajedno and the National Concord was reached during a conversation which took place after the constitutive session.

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