YUGOSLAVIA: BELGRADE: ELECTIONS WRAP

Описание: (24 Sep 2000) Serbo-Croat/Nat

In the biggest challenge ever to Slobodan Milosevic's rule, voters cast their ballots for a new president and parliament on Sunday in a historic vote, which polls say the Yugoslav leader may lose.

With the race tight and prospects for cheating high, the outcome may come down to which of the two leading candidates - Milosevic and Vojislav Kostunica - can convince the public that he is the rightful winner.

Milosevic, appearing relaxed, cast his ballot accompanied by his influential wife Mirjana Markovic in the plush Belgrade district of Dedinje where they live.

Kostunica, backed by 18 opposition parties, has been leading by an average of 10 percentage points in the latest opinion polls.

Three other candidates are seeking the presidency, and if no one wins an absolute majority, a runoff will be held in two weeks.

Kostunica said after voting that he expected to win.

Despite trailing in the polls, Milosevic controls the government media, police and all other centres of power, making him a formidable opponent.

In some areas, voters are selecting a president, two houses of parliament and, in the main republic Serbia, local administrations.

Early results are expected by Sunday evening but it is unclear when definitive trends will be available.

On the eve of the election, the government claimed opposition parties plan to declare victory regardless of the outcome and set up a rival administration Montenegro.

Following the allegation, the government-run election commission announced that voters must show their marked ballots to electoral officials before casting them in the box to make sure extra papers are inserted.

Serbian Radical Party candidate Tomislav Nikolic told APTN he's optimistic that Sunday's Yugoslav presidential elections will be fair.

After casting his vote in Belgrade, Nikolic said he had seen no irregularities in the organisation of elections, and that they represented a victory for the people of Yugoslavia.

The Serbian Radical Party is headed by Vojislav Seselj - one of the most prominent Serb hardliners in Yugoslavian politics.

Presidential candidate and Belgrade mayor Vojislav Mihailovic also cast his vote on Sunday at another polling station.

Mihailovic is the candidate for the Serbian Renewal Party (SPO), headed by the charismatic former writer and journalist, Vuk Draskovic.

The SPO's failure to join the united opposition front is expected to cost the 18-party alliance some potential successes - particularly in the municipal elections where the opposition did so well four years ago.

Yugoslavia refused to let European Union officials monitor the balloting and severely limited the number of foreign journalists permitted in the country.

Only a limited number of opposition officials will be present at the more than 10,000 polling stations and in
state-appointed committees set up to process the ballots.

The government invited about 200 observers from China, Russia, Iraq, Vietnam, Angola and other friendly countries, as well as Western European leftists.

Top Greek official Caralos Papoulias told APTN that the elections were proceeding peacefully.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"I expect Milosevic will be president again."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"I expect a better life and to stop struggling."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"What do I expect? Milosevic is guarding this country and I voted for him. There is nothing more to say."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
SUPER CAPTION: Tomislav Nikolic, Serbian Radical Party



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