SERBIAMONTENEGRO: HARDLINE NATIONALIST WINS MAJORITY OF VOTES IN FIRST ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Record ID:
328808
SERBIAMONTENEGRO: HARDLINE NATIONALIST WINS MAJORITY OF VOTES IN FIRST ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
- Title: SERBIAMONTENEGRO: HARDLINE NATIONALIST WINS MAJORITY OF VOTES IN FIRST ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
- Date: 15th June 2004
- Summary: (W8) BELGRADE, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO (JUNE 13, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. MV ELECTORAL COMMISSION COUNTING VOTES (5 SHOTS) 0.33 2. SLV NEWS CONFERENCE IN MEDIA CENTRE IN BELGRADE 0.38 3. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) ZORAN LUCIC, REPRESENTATIVE OF CENTRE FOR FREE ELECTIONS AND DEMOCRACY (CESID), INDEPENDENT ELECTION WATCHDOG SPEAKING SAYING "The biggest number of votes received Tomislav Nikolic, around 940,000 of votes or 30.1 pct. Boris Tadic received around 850,000 of votes or 27.3 pct. The two of them will be in the second round of elections." 1.04 4. WS SHOT OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE 1.06 5. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) TOMISLAV NIKOLIC, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY (SRS) SPEAKING SAYING: Those that I can convince have already been convinced in this round. I think that will be enough to score the victory in the second round as well. I have to keep my voters, and there is no reason I shouldn't while those who based their voting body on hatred towards me will not be able to continue doing so because I wish for a completely new Serbia, Serbia without conflicts." 1.34 6. SLV PRE-ELECTORAL POSTERS OF TOMISLAV NIKOLIC AND BORIS TADIC, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY (DS) 1.38 7. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) BORIS TADIC, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY SPEAKING SAYING: "These elections showed that the trend of radical increase has been stopped, that that country is on a decline. In my opinion they (the radicals) are the biggest losers in these elections. On the other hand they showed pretty low credability of the government and the candidate of the rulling party. At the same time they showed the ability of the voting body to unite around one or two candidates who favour democratic democratic direction of development in Serbia. I think that the capacity of this group of voters is extremely strong and that the chance of my victory in the second round is very high." 2.15 8. SCU TELEVISION SCREEN SHOWING ONE OF THE SPECIAL SHOWS DEDICATED TO THE ELECTORAL RESULTS 2.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 30th June 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BELGRADE, SERBIAMONTENEGRO
- City:
- Country: Yugoslavia
- Reuters ID: LVA28S4FC3S0VGARL18G9FAYDTON
- Story Text: A hardline nationalist has won the majority of votes
in the first round of Serbia's presidential election.
Hardline nationalist Tomislav Nikolic won the most
votes in Serbia's presidential election on Sunday (June
13), but is expected to face an uphill challenge to defeat
popular
reformer Boris Tadic in a runoff later this month.
Nikolic, whose Radical Party is led by war crimes
suspect Vojislav Seselj, now detained in The Hague,
received 30.1 percent in the first round against 27.3 for
Tadic, according to a result projection by independent
monitors.
Although Nikolic as predicted came first, diplomats and
analysts said Tadic of the pro-Western Democratic Party did
better than expected and was likely to pick up more voters
from
defeated candidates.
The outcome was a major blow for conservative Prime
Minister Vojislav Kostunica, whose ally Dragan Marsicanin
came fourth behind the tycoon and upstart candidate
Bogoljub Karic.
The projection from the usually reliable Centre for Free Elections
and Democracy were based on a representative
sample of polling stations. Official results were expected
by Monday (June 14).
As people elsewhere in former communist eastern Europe
voted for the first time in European Union parliament
elections, Serbia's choice could influence its chances of
catching up and
joining the wealthy club after the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
Tadic said a huge majority of Serbs had voted for
closer ties with Europe but warned the battle was not yet
won.
Tadic, 46, heads the Democratic Party of late Prime
Minister Zoran Djindjic, assassinated by suspected crime
gang bosses last year. Like Nikolic's Radicals, it is
currently in opposition.
Diplomats had warned that Nikolic as new president
would be bad for Serbia's ties with the West and scare off
badly needed foreign investors even though he has toned
down his rhetoric and despite the fact the powers of the
presidency are limited.
Nikolic as new president would also be sure to spell
trouble for Kostunica's three-month-old minority coalition
government as a leading pro-market reformer, Deputy Prime
Minister Miroljub Labus, said he would pull his G-17 party
out if Nikolic won.
The Radicals oppose handing over suspects to The Hague
war crimes tribunal. Compliance with the U.N. court is a
key condition for closer ties with the European Union.
Seselj is an old ally of former President Slobodan
Milosevic and, like him, is in detention accused of
atrocities in the Balkan wars of the last decade.
He retains control of the party, which came first in
December's parliamentary election but failed to get into
power.
Pollsters say it benefited from disappointment with
reforms enacted since Milosevics overthrow in 2000.
Serbia last year formed a loose union with tiny
Montenegro to replace what remained of Yugoslavia after a
decade of wars.
The union also has a president and parliament although most
powers rest with its two member republics.
Impoverished Serbia has been without an elected
president since Milan Milutinovic, also indicted by the war
crimes tribunal, stepped down when his term expired in
January 2003.
Milutinovic subsequently surrendered to the tribunal.
Three previous bids to choose a president failed as
turnout was short of a required 50 percent, a rule since
scrapped.
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