But unlike his opposition rivals who say Milosevic should go as a first step, he yesterday argued that the top priority should be the establishment of a ``transitional government'' under Milosevic to end sanctions and ensure the return of Serbs to Kosovo. He said elections would ultimately end both Milosevic and the system he represented.

Draskovic also indirectly attacked his rivals, who have appealed to him to join them, and criticised the West for its policy over Kosovo.

More than 15,000 people turned up to hear Draskovic, a charismatic figure with wide appeal among Serbs who has wavered between the government and opposition since the end of NATO's 11-week bombardment last month. Other opposition parties fear Draskovic may hamper their efforts to oust Milosevic. He says the aim to force him out throughpopular pressure could spark a civil war.

Posters of the bearded leader were placed all over the town, which is run by a member of his Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), giving the rally, Draskovic's first foray onto the streets this year.

Some of the posters urged people to vote for Draskovic, who led huge anti-Milosevic street protests in 1996 and then joined the government briefly this year, as President of Serbia.

``After all the misfortunes of our nation over the past 10 years, and especially after this breakdown in Kosovo, the shame and pain... it is time for the first man in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to leave his job,'' Draskovic said at the start of his speech, to wild cheers from the crowd.

That government would, he predicted, in the following three to six months get sanctions scrapped and open the door for the return of Serb refugees who fled Kosovo fearing ethnic Albanian revenge attacks. The next point in his programme was elections at all levels.

``Believe me there's no otherway,'' he said, adding that any other route would lead to civil war, a veiled reference to the protest movement organised by the alliance, which aims to use popular pressure to force Milosevic to resign. Draskovic said he had just come from Greece where officials had told him sanctions would be scrapped as soon as a Western-friendly interim government was set up.