YUGOSLAVIA: YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA WINS FIRST ROUND OF SERBIA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Record ID:
443046
YUGOSLAVIA: YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA WINS FIRST ROUND OF SERBIA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
- Title: YUGOSLAVIA: YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA WINS FIRST ROUND OF SERBIA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
- Date: 30th September 2002
- Summary: (W1)BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA (SEPTEMBER 30, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE SHOT OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE HELD BY CESID 0.05 2. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SLOBODAN SAMARDZIC, SPOKESMAN OF CESID SPEAKING SAYING: "31.2 Vojislav Kostunica, 27.7 Miroljub Labus so the second round will take place in two weeks." 0.17 3. VARIOUS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF SERBIA (DSS) (2 SHOTS) 0.29 4. SV/SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF DSS (CURRENT YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT) SPEAKING SAYING: "The first round results have shown something that to me is very encouraging, and that is that Serbia doesn't want to take any short cuts. It is my deepest conviction that both Mr. Labus and Mr. Seselj are extremists. There is a stereotype opinion that only Mr. Seselj is an extremist, but so is Mr. Labus for uncritically accepting all demands by international financial institutions, regardless of the social situation in the country and the non-existence of a democratic legislative framework." (2 SHOTS) 1.28 5. WIDE SHOT OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE HELD BY VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA 1.40 6. VARIOUS OF HEADQUARTERS OF MIROLJUB LABUS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SUPPORTED BY THE DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION OF SERBIA (DOS) (3 SHOTS) 1.57 7. PAN/BACK VIEW: MIROLJUB LABUS AT PRESS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) 2.12 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIROLJUB LABUS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF DOS (CURRENT DEPUTY FEDERAL PRIME MINISTER) SPEAKING TO REPORTER SAYING: "I am happy with the (first round) result as I started from scratch and won a million votes. I do believe in the second round I would convene my message to all of those who are now in doubt whether Serbia should continue with economic and democratic reforms and admittance to the European Union as quickly as I would like to see it." 2.35 9. SV: LABUS LEAVING 2.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 15th October 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA
- City:
- Country: Yugoslavia
- Reuters ID: LVA98CEHVMOL1EZS58Z8CMBFQPJL
- Story Text: Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has won the first
round of Serbia's presidential election, putting himself in
pole position to secure victory in a run-off against a liberal
rival in two weeks time.
If the self-styled moderate nationalist pulls off the
switch to head Yugoslavia's dominant republic, it will set up
a power battle among the political forces which united to oust
Slobodan Milosevic two years ago.
Kostunica has criticised quick pro-market reforms
undertaken by the Serbian government of his arch-rival Zoran
Djindjic. He has vowed to push for an early general election
and a more cautious economic policy.
Kostunica took 31.2 percent of the first round vote and
Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus will join him in
the run-off thanks to a score of 27.7 percent, according to a
projection by a reliable Belgrade-based monitoring agency.
Ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj -- backed by Milosevic
from the cells of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague --
scored a better-than-predicted 22.5 percent, according to the
projection by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy.
Whoever wins the second round will preside over a republic
trying to get back on its feet after a decade of Balkan wars
and international isolation under Milosevic.
Analysts said Kostunica, 58, was now the hot favourite as
most other first round candidates were nationalists of various
hues. Their supporters are far more likely to switch to
Kostunica than the liberal, strongly pro-Western Labus.
Serbia's current president Milan Milutinovic, a last
remnant of the Milosevic era, completes his five-year term at
the end of the year. He is expected to join his former boss at
the U.N. war crimes court on charges of atrocities committed
in Kosovo.
One possible spanner in the works for Kostunica is a
requirement that turnout must be more than 50 percent for the
second round to be valid. A presidential election five years
ago failed to overcome this barrier and had to be repeated.
Kostunica is looking for a new job as the Yugoslav
federation is to be revamped as a looser union between its two
remaining constituent republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
His current post will cease to exist.
Around 55 percent of Serbia's 6.5 million-strong
electorate took part in Sunday's vote, choosing between 11
candidates.
First official results were expected on Monday morning but
the Belgrade agency's projections have proved extremely
accurate in the past.
Sunday's has a margin of error of 0.4 percent.
Both Kostunica and Labus have insisted they are committed
to democracy and reform. But they chose very different
campaigns.
Labus, an architect of the Serbian government's economic
reforms, has championed quick restructuring and privatisation
of state companies and told Serbs they must work hard.
Kostunica stressed the importance of the rule of law and
demanded more social protection for those hit hard by reforms.
Kostunica's clear first-round lead is good for reforms in
Serbia as it shows that reforms can't be carried out by
hardline methods, said Danijel Cvijeticanin, an adviser to
Kostunica.
Kostunica's supporters say the Djindjic camp has no
respect for the rule of law and allege corruption and links to
organised crime. His opponents see him as a respectable
front-man for many of the same nationalists who rallied around
Milosevic.
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