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Blame follows Serb poll failure
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica's party is blaming dirty tricks by opponents for the failure of Serbia's presidential election. Moderate nationalist Kostunica won Sunday's runoff with almost 67 percent of the vote, but the poll must be rerun because turnout fell short of the 50 percent required under rules set by former President Slobodan Milosevic. Widespread apathy among voters, due in part to disappointment with the government's economic reforms, along with wet weather, led many people to stay home on Sunday. Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) also pointed the finger at Kostunica's rival, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, saying he tacitly encouraged voters to stay at home when it became clear the liberal candidate would not win. "Apart from those who boycotted the election officially, there was also a silent boycott," DSS Vice President Zoran Sami told a news conference. "Those who wanted this and made it happen can hardly be called responsible politicians." The independent Centre for Free Elections and Democracy estimated voter turnout at 2.9 million -- about 45.5 percent of eligible voters. According to exit polls, Kostunica led Miroljub Labus, Serbia's deputy prime minister, by more than two to one in the runoff. Sami said the 50 percent threshold would have been reached but for inaccurate and bloated voter lists. "The electoral roll included more than half a million non-existent voters -- who are either dead or were made up by Milosevic," Kostunica's colleague said. The state electoral committee was expected to make the annulment official on Monday evening. Ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj – an ally of Milosevic who took nearly a quarter of the first-round vote -- had openly urged a boycott. Seselj surprised observers by drawing 22 percent of the vote in the first round of balloting last month, but his third-place showing kept him out of the runoff. Serbian officials are required to hold new elections within 90 days after the results are annulled. But on Sunday night, the vice president of the leading democratic party in the Serbian parliament said election law requires the new vote to be held at least 30 days before the current president's mandate ends. Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, who has been indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague for war crimes in Kosovo, must leave his post by December 28. Both Kostunica and Labus are veterans of the movement that drove Milosevic, now on trial in The Hague for war crimes, from power in October 2000. But that movement has split since Milosevic's ouster. Labus has won Western praise for championing fast pro-market reforms. He has the backing of Djindjic. Kostunica has been president of the Yugoslav federation since a popular uprising drove Milosevic from power. He has criticised Labus' reforms for throwing people out of work and into poverty. Serbia is the larger of the two republics remaining in the Yugoslav federation after a decade of Balkan wars. Yugoslavia's federal government, which Kostunica now leads, will become less important when an agreement reached in March loosens the union between Serbia and the smaller republic, Montenegro. -- Journalist Slobodan Cagic contributed to this report
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