BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — The pro-democracy camp has weakened Slobodan Milosevic's allies by getting them to grudgingly agree to share power, but not all is rosy for President Vojislav Kostunica and his backers in their drive to establish full authority.
Army commanders who slavishly followed Milosevic's orders refuse to step down. Milosevic's top banker also is determined to stay, even breaking into her former office with the help of a murky paramilitary group.
Such events lead many Yugoslavs to fear that the Oct. 5 street revolt that toppled Milosevic has failed to fully isolate the former strongman, his autocratic wife and his repressive instruments of power that kept him in charge for 13 years.
"Until Milosevic, his wife and 20 to 30 people who have carried out their policies, including the army commanders, are not placed under full control, the country will have a snake in its body," said Dragan Vuksic, a pro-democracy official.
The new interim Serbian government — announced Monday — will still have a Milosevic ally as its prime minister, even though he must work with rival appointees. And all key decisions made by the government must be made by consensus between Milosevic's and Kostunica's ministers.
While considered a gain for Kostunica's efforts to secure control of the Serb parliament dominated by Milosevic allies, the deal is likely to undermine democratic changes. It is not the only roadblock.
Milosevic's army commanders, Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic and Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, have not resigned despite enormous public pressure. His secret service chief, Rade Markovic, and other police chiefs are still in charge — even if some in the ranks have turned their backs on Milosevic.
Borka Vucic, known locally as Milosevic's private banker, has refused to step down and on Sunday returned to her offices in Belgrade, accompanied by armed guards.
Vucic has been instrumental in sanctions busting and is accused of syphoning state money and Milosevic's assets to foreign banks where the former Yugoslav leader is reported to have accumulated millions of dollars.
State media editors, the chief pillar of Milosevic's rule, were literally kicked out of their offices after the street riots that ended the former strongman's rule. Now, some of them are still wielding influence by their membership on "crisis committees" organized in state-run newspapers and broadcast stations to run the operations.
The police force, apparently split between pro-Milosevic and pro-Kostunica factions, remained inactive during a riot Saturday, when fans of rival soccer clubs Red Star and Partizan Belgrade clashed on the playing field. Nearly 40 people were injured. Crime has been on the rise, as police watch.
Sensing an opportunity to further muddy the waters, Pavkovic, the Milosevic-appointed army chief of staff, claimed Monday that some parts of the police have become "illegal armed formations."
"Some political factors are constantly trying to take over this ministry," Pavkovic said.
Analyst Bratislav Grubacic says that — despite progress on the political front by the pro-Kostunica camp — "the majority of people have a feeling that the revolution is not finished."
"Milosevic's idea is to create chaos in the country and make people turn against the pro-democratic forces," said Grubacic. "And then, Milosevic hopes, people will beg for the return of his iron fist rule."
Illustrating those tactics, outgoing Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic, Milosevic's closest aide, said Monday that since Kostunica was proclaimed the winner in the Sept. 24 election, "lawlessness and anarchy" have prevailed. He called for unspecified "urgent measures" to stop the alleged havoc.
The pro-democracy camp hopes that the deadlock in the government of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic, will at least curb the disastrous policies that the republican administration pursued when it was entirely in the hands of Milosevic's allies.
But nearly 10 days after Kostunica took office as president, no move has been made to arrest Milosevic, despite his indictment by the U.N. war crimes tribunal and allegations of extensive corruption at home.
"Milosevic is still trying to mobilize his people," said key pro-democracy leader Zoran Djindjic. "We have two tasks ahead of us: first, we need to isolate Milosevic in such a way that he loses all the influence. Second, we have to establish all illegal things he did as president."