Serbs vote in pivotal polls as Kosovo fate looms

[maddezmom]

BELGRADE (AFP) - Serbians has voted for a new government in polls pitting pro-Western forces against ultra-nationalists as a UN decision on the country's breakaway Kosovo province looms.

The parliamentary elections Sunday come nearly a year after the death of former autocratic president Slobodan Milosevic and the independence of Serbia's traditional partner Montenegro in an historic referendum.

Voters turned out in force, spurred on by the stark choice between a European future and possible return to the dark days of the 1990s, when Serbia was a pariah state involved in four wars that shattered the former Yugoslavia.

"This is the first time I have voted since 2000," said 65-year-old Belgrade voter Milka Maravic, noting the year Milosevic was defeated in presidential polls before being overthrown in a popular uprising.

"At the time, I thought it was the end of bad things. But it seems that we have to vote again to avoid turning back to the past."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070121/wl_afp/serbiavote_070121170711

[redqueen]

1. There is never an "end of bad things".

Eternal vigilance...

[maddezmom]

2. No party emerging to govern Serbia

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer
16 minutes ago



BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbs scattered their votes among 20 political parties in parliamentary elections, leaving no group with enough power to rule alone, according to official partial returns released Monday in a troubled Balkan nation divided over Western-style reforms and the future of Kosovo.

The vote was the first since Serbia became independent last year with the end to its union with Montenegro, its last partner from the former Yugoslav federation. Soon after the vote, the U.N. was expected to propose a plan for the future of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province.

Voters chose from parties ranging from ultranationalists and conservatives to pro-Western reformists and liberals. Parties needed a minimum 5 percent of the total vote to earn a place in the 250-member parliament.

The Serbian Radical Party, loyal to late ex-leader Slobodan Milosevic and opposed to Serbia's EU membership at the expense of Kosovo's independence, won 28.3 percent of the vote. But that was not enough for the party to govern alone, the state electoral commission said.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/ap_on_re_eu/serbia_election

[Eugene]

3. AFP: Ultra-nationalist win puts Serbia's future on hold

Ultra-nationalist win puts Serbia's future on hold

by David Vujanovic

Mon Jan 22, 9:54 AM ET

BELGRADE (AFP) - Ultra-nationalists have claimed victory in Serbian elections
after a splintered vote failed to deliver on European hopes of a clear mandate
for a pro-Western reformist government in Belgrade.

Official estimates gave the hardline Serbian Radical Party, whose leader,
Vojislav Seselj, is on trial for war crimes at the UN tribunal in The Hague,
28.7 percent of Sunday's vote.

The pro-European Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic was second with
22.9 percent, followed by moderate nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) with 16.7 percent.

With no party obtaining an outright majority, Kostunica looked set to play the
role of kingmaker in any future coalition government.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070122/ts_afp/serbiavote_070122145224