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Serbians go to polls in hope
29/09/2002 22:28 - (SA)
Belgrade - Serbian voters expressed disillusion with the new face of national politics as they cast their ballots on Sunday in the first presidential polls since Slobodan Milosevic fell from power, two
years ago.
The early turnout was slow on a damp, cold morning, with only
4% of the main Yugoslav republic's 6.5 million voters
casting their ballots in the first two hours, according to observers.
But by the close of polls at 20:00, independent
observers said the turnout could reach 57%, above the
required 50% minimum.
It may have been more than just drizzling rain which kept away
voters, many of whom indicated the polls were less important than
those of the Milosevic era, when the country was the pariah of
Europe.
"I don't expect anything spectacular from this election," said Amalija (63), a retired teacher, after casting her
ballot in downtown Belgrade.
"Whoever wins, it will be fine. Everybody here just wants to live better and I think that we will, regardless," she said.
Monthly wages lowest in Europe
Opinion polls show a close race between two reformists - yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and deputy prime minister
Miroljub Labus, a liberal economist - with the economy and
corruption the top issues on voters' minds.
Neither of the main candidates wants to accept blame for the
broken promises of two years ago, when Milosevic's ousting raised
expectations that Serbia would regain its position as the economic engine of the Balkans.
The economy has improved and the country has renewed contacts
with donor countries and global lenders, but monthly wages are still among the lowest in Europe and inflation was close to 40% last year.
"Our standard of living is a little better than during the
Milosevic era, but it's not enough. Life is becoming more expensive and prices keep rising," said Mila Pruginic (26).
Srbijanka Naumovski, a 45-year-old shopkeeper, said she doubted the vote would change anything in a country still reeling from the chaotic upheavals of the 1990s, when former president Milosevic ruled over the bloody breakup of the communist Yugoslav federation.
"We hope that something will be better, but I'm not so sure it
will," she said.
Independent observers welcomed the peaceful atmosphere at the
polling stations, compared to the tensions of the past.
"Everything is going smoothly and it's much more relaxed than it used to be before," said Andrija Smircic, an observer with a local non-governmental organisation. "It is completely different this time. The change is so obvious."
Milosevic has shunned his own Socialist Party of Serbia and
given his public support to Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav
Seselj, an ultra-nationalist who is standing in the poll and has
failed to win the presidency several times in the past.
Pollsters say neither Kostunica nor Labus will have enough to
win in the first round, setting the stage for a runoff on October
13. - Sapa-AFP
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