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| Europe |
| Serbians fail to elect president for the third time |
| 2003-11-16 |
| worse than Florida? Finally a place where Gore’s Lawyer Brigade© could win one Serbia’s presidential elections failed for the third time in a year Sunday because of a low turnout, according to exit polls. The turnout was 38.5 per cent, less than the 50 per cent required by law, said the independent Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, a group that monitored the vote. enthusiastic bunch, aren’t they? Amid widespread voter apathy caused by the lack of real economic benefits after former president Slobodan Milosevic’s ouster in 2000, the last two elections also foundered because of low turnout. On Sunday, Serbs had a choice between a pro-democracy veteran, Dragoljub Micunovic, and a strident nationalist, Tomislav Nikolic. According to unofficial results, Mr. Nikolic led with 46.5 per cent, while Mr. Micunovic, the pre-election front-runner, got 35 per cent. Official results are expected Monday, but the centre’s results have proved reliable in the past. The failure to elect a president further deepens the country’s political crisis — parliament was dissolved last week, leaving no one to call a new vote. "Without a president, we will have an institutional chaos," said Stefan Gredelj, an independent election analyst monitoring the vote. institutional chaos - again? Voters stayed away from the polls because of disillusionment with the country’s leadership, which has failed to bring economic progress to the republic following a decade of war and the ouster of Mr. Milosevic, he said. "The politicians are getting what they deserve," he said. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #1 "The politicians are getting what they deserve," he said sounds to me more like it is The People(TM) who are getting what they deserve. But apparently, the concept of democracy escapes them, so apparently they don't quite grasp that fact. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-16 7:28:52 PM |