Election failure sparks political crisis in Serbia

SERBIA was heading for a major political crisis yesterday after it failed for a second time to elect a president and the top contender, Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica, said he would not recognise the outcome.

Mr Kostunica who won most votes in Sunday's election that failed because of low turnout claimed he was robbed of his victory because of irregular voter lists, announced legal steps to challenge the ballot.

"We will not recognise the results of this election," Mr Kostunica said hours after the polls closed. "Crime is the right word for what happened here."

Sunday's vote was invalid because only about 44% of the electorate cast ballots, short of the 50% minimum turnout required by the election law. The inconclusive outcome followed a similar failure in October.

Although he won most votes yesterday, the failure at the polls dealt a serious blow to Mr Kostunica, indicating that the once overwhelming popular support he enjoyed when he toppled former president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 has shrunk.

Sunday's uncertainty at the polls also set the stage for a showdown between Mr Kostunica and his chief rival,

Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic, adding to an ongoing power struggle between the two politicians who had teamed up to remove Milosevic, but later split over many issues.

"We are heading for a major political crisis," said political analyst Milan Milosevic.Mr Kostunica's camp talked of "scandalous rigging" of the election results by the state electoral commission and the independent observers and said it would appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court and international institutions.

A similar attempt by Mr Kostunica to challenge the October election failure was unsuccessful.

The Serbian government and its prime minister "are directly responsible" for the election failure, Mr Kostunica said.