Serbian President and leader of
Democratic Party Boris Tadic casts his vote at a polling station in
Belgrade May 11, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BELGRADE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The pro-Western
coalition claimed victory in Serbia's parliamentary elections on Sunday, which
is set to give momentum to the Balkan country's integration into the European
Union (EU).
However, the alliance is short of a majority to form
a government, and the disgruntled nationalists have pledged not to give up.
Based on 85 percent of the sample counted by the
Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), an independent monitoring
institution, the pro-Western Coalition for a European Serbia led by President
Boris Tadic won 38.7 percent of the vote, or 103 seats in the next parliament.
The next popular contender, ultra-nationalist Serbian
Radical Party (SRS) rallied around Tomislav Nikolic, trailed with 29.1 percent,
or 77 parliamentary seats.
The Coalition of Democratic Party of Serbian (DSS)
and New Serbia (NS) with nationalist outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica
at the helm garnered 11.3 percent of the vote, or 30 parliamentary seats.
The other two parties over the 5 percent threshold to
enter the parliament are pro-Western Liberal Democratic Party and nationalist
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). They each got 5.2 percent or 13 seats and 7.9
percent or 20 seats.
"This is a great day for Serbia," said Tadic shortly
after the preliminary results were released.
"Serbian citizens have confirmed Serbia's European
path," he said.
Serbian President and leader of
Democratic Party Boris Tadic gives a statement after casting his vote
during general election at a polling station in Belgrade May 11,
2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Thousands
of supporters for the Tadic bloc took to the streets to celebrate the victory.
They waved party and EU flags, honked horns and lit torches.
Tadic, however, would face a difficult task to form a
government by his will.
By law, without the necessary 126 seats to be in a
majority in the 250- seat parliament, neither party is able to form a government
alone, entailing a coalition among parties this time.
If the nationalists team up, namely, Nikolic's SRS
unites Kostunica's DSS-NS coalition and the SPS whose former leader was late
Slobodan Milosevic, they could manage 127 seats, just enough to secure them the
power for forming a government even without the participation of Tadic's party.
Nikolic, who is already pondering the alliance, said
he would meet with Kostunica and other conservative leaders on the issue on
Monday.
Tadic acknowledged the negotiation on forming the
next government would be tough.
The elections were called when the fragile ruling
coalition of Tadic's Democratic Party and DSS collapsed at a row over ties with
the EU after most member states of the 27-nation bloc recognized Kosovo's
independence.
The CeSID gave the turnout at 60.7 percent, meaning
about 4.1 million from some 6.75 million eligible voters cast their ballots at
8,286 polling stations to choose parliamentarians from 3,137 candidates.
Voters are also to choose 120 deputies to the
Vojvodina Assembly, as well as councilors to 24 city halls and 150 municipal
assemblies.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and closed at 8
p.m. (1800 GMT). The final results are expected on Thursday evening.
The voting was monitored by a dozen international
organizations including the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Duma, the
Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law and the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly
of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo unilaterally
declared independence on Feb. 17, which has been recognized by some 40
countries, including the United States and most EU member states.
The nationalists, represented by SRS and DSS,
strongly oppose to Kosovo's move and to Serbia's further integration with the EU
unless the Western nations retract their recognition of the breakaway Kosovo.
The pro-western bloc, despite its opposition to
Kosovo's independence, favors a speedy integration with the EU as it believes an
EU membership would strengthen Serbia in the fight to maintain Kosovo.
BELGRADE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Serbian parliamentary and
local elections ended at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday with a surprisingly low
turnout.
According to the non-governmental monitoring institution
the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), only 54.2 percent of some
6.75 million registered voters cast their ballots by 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), more
than 9 percentage points lower than the February presidential runoff. Full story
