Anarchists have long promoted not voting as not doing nothing...just not
doing something stupid.And when no side can claim a mandate then the state
can wither away.(with a little nudge if it needs help.)
Voter apathy hits Serbia poll
December 10 2002
By Alex Todorovic
Belgrade.
Picture: AFP
Election posters across downtown Belgrade of Vojislav Kostunica weren't
enough to secure his hold on the presidency.
Serbia tried for the third time in a year to elect a president on Sunday
but look set to fail again.
Bitterly cold wind and voter apathy produced a turnout expected to be well
below the 50 per cent required to make elections valid.
Vojislav Kostunica led a pack of nationalist candidates, including the
far-right leader Vojsislav Seselj, who has the endorsement of Slobodan
Milosevic from his prison cell in The Hague, and Borislav Pelevic, who
heads the Serbian Unity Party founded by the late warlord Arkan.
But with polling almost complete, the 32 per cent turnout all but confirmed
that the vote had not passed the threshold.
Mr Kostunica, the President of Yugoslavia, was the favoured candidate. The
self-styled moderate nationalist came first in a September election but did
not secure an absolute majority. He won the second round in October, but
the low turnout invalidated the vote.
Mr Kostunica has complained that voter rolls are filled with names of
people who fled Yugoslavia during the Milosevic era. His party has argued
that 50 per cent really means 70 per cent.
He had also wanted to change the law to make elections valid no matter what
the turnout, but he was thwarted by opponents.
The Yugoslav presidency will soon cease to exist when the parliaments of
Serbia and Montenegro, the only two remaining republics, sign the
federation into oblivion.
The second failure to elect a president since October could have dire
repercussions for Serbia, struggling in transition.
It needs a reputable president to stabilise politically and to attract
foreign investment. The latest botched election attempt means more
political infighting, more power struggles, and further disillusionment
among the electorate.
Serbia has been the victim of an 18-month power struggle between Prime
Minister Zoran Djindjic and Mr Kostunica. The battle began in earnest when
Mr Djindjic decided to extradite Mr Milosevic to The Hague without going
through the necessary legal proceedings.
Mr Djindjic and Mr Kostunica worked together to topple Mr Milosevic, but
once the Balkan strongman had gone, their differences moved to centre stage.
- Telegraph
http://theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/09/1039379782412.html
Watching the Belgrade revolution was fascinating as there was so little
violence and where there was it seemed so apt...such as the head of Slobo
TV getting his face bashed in.Something we might transfer over to CNN,FOX
and several radio stations?
