Bosnian Serb Hard-Liners Lose Ground

SARAJEVO, Bosnia, Dec. 7—Bosnian Serb hard-liners loyal to war-crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic lost ground to supporters of the Western-backed Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic in last month's parliamentary elections, but the Karadzic camp may still be able to form a government and retain control of the Serb-held half of Bosnia.

Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party won 24 of 83 parliamentary seats, down from its majority of 45 seats in the last parliament, according to provisional results released today by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitored the election. Plavsic's Serbian National Alliance and its allies took 17 seats. If Karadzic's party forms a coalition with its ally, the Radical Party, their combined 39 seats would be only three seats shy of the 42 needed for a parliamentary majority.

Karadzic could gain a majority with the help of the Bosnian Serb Socialist Party, which won nine seats. Until this summer, the Socialists had proved slavishly obedient to their patron, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. But they appeared to be acting independently in July when they threw their support behind Plavsic in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Diplomats say Milosevic is pressuring the Socialists to form a coalition with Karadzic's party, and there were rumors of an impending split within the party.

If Plavsic is to gain a majority, she will need the support of the Socialists and the 16 seats of the mainly Muslim coalition led by the Party of Democratic Action, representing hundreds of thousands of Muslims who were driven out of their villages by Serbs during the Bosnian war. But it is unlikely that Plavsic, a hard-line nationalist, would accept help from Muslim parties.

Sources in her cabinet said Plavsic is hoping for a hung parliament, which would allow her to appoint a government until the next elections.