Rally marks anniversary of Milosevic fall

BELGRADE, Serbia, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A coalition of opposition parties rallied in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday to mark the ninth anniversary of protests that eventually toppled Slobodan Milosevic.

The rallies on Oct. 5, 2000, were called to protest the Milosevic regime's decision not to recognize the results of presidential elections conducted a month earlier, B92-TV reported. The state election commission announced a run-off between Milosevic, leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia, and Democratic Opposition of Serbia candidate and coalition leader Vojislav Kostunica, despite Kostunica's winning more than 50 percent of the vote.

One demonstrator, Zoran Zivkovic, said not much of what was promised nine years ago has been fulfilled, attributing the inaction to a "counterrevolution."

"The counterrevolution, it's a serious but accurate word, started creeping in after Oct. 6, when Kostunica prevented DOS from making all the changes that were necessary to achieve discontinuity with the previous regime. Instead he went to see Milosevic that night," Zivkovic, who became prime minister in 2003 after the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Dindic, told B92 Sunday.