Serbs go to polls in first democratic elections

Serbs were today choosing local leaders in key elections expected to be a tight race between pro-Western reformers and loyalists of former President Slobodan Milosevic.

The municipal and mayoral elections are the first democratically organised since Milosevic was ousted four years ago by a coalition of democratic parties.

Polls opened at 7am for more than six million eligible voters, choosing local assembly representatives in 148 municipalities and mayors in the four biggest cities, including the capital, Belgrade.

In the northern province of Vojvodina – where tensions between local Serbs and Hungarians have risen recently – citizens were also choosing a new regional assembly.

Leading pre-election surveys put the pro-Western Democratic Party and the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party tied at the front of the race in most parts of the republic.

The newly founded Strength of Serbia party, led by Serb billionaire Bogoljub Karic, was ranked third in the polls, while Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s party was lagging in fourth.

The Democrats were predicted to regain the post of Belgrade mayor, while the Radicals were favoured in rural municipalities where their populist policies have appealed to poorer Serbs frustrated with the slow economic improvements.

Serbia’s President Boris Tadic, leader of the Democrats, said upon casting his ballot that he expected the elections to confirm the republic’s path toward Europe.

Prime Minister Kostunica called the vote “historic” because it was Serbia’s first to be held in line with international standards.

The elections are also the first held under a new law granting more self-rule to the local communities, contrasting Milosevic-era laws that concentrated most powers in Belgrade.

The new law also gives wide powers to mayors of major cities, and makes the Belgrade mayor the third most influential official after the republic’s prime minister and president.

The Radicals were expected to make major electoral gains, having been badly defeated in the last local ballot in 2000. Their gains, however, could slow down Serbia’s economic and social reforms, and hurt Tadic’s efforts to establish closer ties with the European Union and NATO.

“We need to move on, we have no time to wait,” said Jelena Zutic, 35, casting her ballot in central Belgrade, a traditional stronghold of the reformers. She did not say, however, which party she voted for.

Election officials reported no problems during the balloting. Belgrade city’s election commission said 6% of voters had cast ballots in the capital in the first three hours.

Polls predict that ultra-nationalist Aleksandar Vucic and Democrat Nenad Bogdanovic will fight neck-to-neck in Belgrade’s mayoral race.

The vote is expected to deal a blow to Kostunica, whose popularity has declined since his coalition cabinet took over from the Democrats after December’s general elections.

Kostunica’s defeat on local level could pave the way for early general elections next year, analysts said.