Seselj Urges Voters to Boycott Run-off
Concerns that the Serbian presidential elections process may fail escalated Thursday (3 October) as Vojislav Seselj urged voters to boycott the run-off next weekend.
"We are calling on all those who voted for me in the first round to stay away from the polling stations and not to vote for either Kostunica or Labus," said the ultra-nationalist leader, who won over 23 per cent of the vote on 29 September.
Fewer than 56 per cent of eligible voters went to the polls during the first round. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica came out ahead with 31 per cent of the vote, while Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus was second with 27 per cent. The two will face each other in a run-off on 13 October.
But a turnout of less than 50 per cent would render the elections invalid, and the whole process would have to be repeated.
Seeking to convince voters to stay away from polling stations next time, Seselj insisted that the first round was a fraud and that voting irregularities inflated support for Labus by 5 per cent. The Serbian Electoral Commission rejected his claims Thursday, describing them as untimely and groundless.
"We cannot support Labus," Seselj said, "because he is a spy, a mafioso, a criminal and a traitor, in addition to being the candidate for Zoran Djindjic. And we cannot give [Kostunica] our vote as he is the key person responsible for bringing DOS to power" and ousting Slobodan Milosevic.The former Yugoslav president, now on trial at The Hague, has endorsed Seselj.
The majority of voters will boycott the run-off, Seselj predicts. "The failure of presidential elections opens the door for early elections at all levels. The Serbian Radical Party demands such early elections," he added.
Meanwhile, Kostunica urged voters to go to the polls on 13 October, warning that failure to do so could plunge the country into chaos and anarchy. "If we fail to accomplish the reforms as well as new, better laws and a constitution ... we shall start falling apart at the seams," he said Thursday. Labus also warned of the danger of a low turnout. The two candidates have agreed to hold a televised debate next week.
Some analysts hold out hope that the 50 per cent threshold can be reached. Marko Blagojevic, a spokesman for the Belgrade-based Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, which monitors the elections, said that as hard as it may be, Kostunica and Labus should try to persuade the abstainees in the first round to go to the polls on the 13th. "In that case, there's still a chance for the election to succeed even if all Seselj's voters listen to him and don't vote," Blagojevic said.
http://www.balkantimes.com/html2/english/021004-SVETLA-001.htm
