>From: "Macdonald Stainsby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact > >SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY >====================== > >YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS - >A LESSON IN OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE > >At the invitation of the Socialist Party of Serbia, Britain's Socialist >Labour Party sent a three-person delegation to participate in international >monitoring of the Yugoslav elections held on 24 September. We were the only >British representatives among 250 observers invited from around the world. > >Our delegation travelled extensively throughout the country, was able to >talk to officials and voters and visited numerous polling stations, gaining >first-hand experience of what was actually taking place during an election >which was being misreported in many parts of the world. > >>From what we saw, the Federal Electoral Commission, an elected all-party >body, did everything in its power to ensure that people were able to cast >their votes without intimidation and in an orderly manner - and certainly in >accordance with procedures which we would expect in a democratic, free >election. > >In Serbia, we visited the Muslim areas of Kraljevo and Novi Pazar as well as >observing polling in the capital, Belgrade. > >It was only in Montenegro that we observed the following irregularities: > >the so-called Democratic Opposition which boycotted the elections in >Montenegro nevertheless gathered outside polling stations there in clear >violation of election procedures, using intimidating behaviour towards >prospective voters; > >we received many first-hand reports from people who stated they had been >threatened with the loss of their jobs if they turned out to vote; > >we were in no doubt that countless refugees from Kosovo had been >deliberately excluded from the electoral lists in Montenegro despite the >fact that their identity cards, issued in 1999, gave them the right to vote, >and were thus also prevented from voting. > >We could only conclude that these tactics of intimidation and >disenfranchisement were designed to benefit the so-called Democratic >Opposition. > >We were also appalled at the blatant outside interference in the procedures >from Western governments which are obviously seeking to influence the >outcome of these elections by promising economic aid and the lifting of >sanctions if the Yugoslav people vote in accordance with the wishes of these >governments and the European Union. > >Mick Appleyard Liz Screen Ian Johnson > > > > > >================ >Macdonald Stainsby. > >Rad-Green List: Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion. >http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/rad-green >---------- >http://www.geocities.com/leninist_international/ >http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international > > >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
