Serbia's voters fail a second time to elect president

USA Today ^ | December 8, 2002 | AP

[kosta50]

Serbia's voters fail a second time to elect president BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) — Serbian presidential elections failed Sunday for a second time because of low turnout, independent observers say.

The Center for Free Elections and Democracy, an independent group of observers, said turnout was around 45%, about the same as when the vote failed in October because of the required 50% voter turnout.

The rest of the article

[kosta50]

Serbia actually changed the Miloshevich-era election law that required 50% voter turnout in both runds to a 50% minimum turnout in the first round.

Instead of using countries with established democratic traditions as the guide, Serbian legislators decided to make a bad imitation and the results are that Serbia is being thrown into a political chaos.

In Serbia, as in the rest of the Balkans, the idea that an obstention is a choice and not a baton is a foreign one. Election boycott there is not a tool for stripping the responsable citizens who vote of their right to elect candidates. It is a state-sanctioned election terror.

Instead of making the law right, the Serbian legislature made it half-right. Now, in both elections for the past two months, the Serbian citizens who voted were robbed of their vote by voters who didn't bother to vote. The quasi-intellectual elite in Serbia does not see it that way because they are mentally still in the Middle Ages, backward and ignorant.

This will further polarize Serbia, create a new powderkeg and lead to tit-for-tat. Perhaps deservingly so.

[kosta50]

BUMP!

[bobi]

Well people need to go out and vote.

Here in Australia we HAVE to vote in ALL local, state and federal electrions.

EVERY one has to vote or there is a $100+ fine.

I have to prove my self absent on the last election to avoid paying the fine.

Good or bad everyone has to express their opinion and it is one of the responsibilities of living in a democratic society.

Whereas the United States system of voting ...... :) .... lets not get into that ...... it is a conservative website.

[kosta50]

Well, you would imagine that rights carry responsibilities, but that's not so in most cases. Vote is seen as both a right and a privilege, but not as duty. However, those people who decide to vote should not be robbed of their vote by those who choose not to bother, by having the elections invalidated. That creates even more voter apathy and sense of impotence. It creates a passive-aggressive culture that leads to polarization and eventulaly violence -- and the Balkans is as good at that as it gets.

I think forcing people to vote is wrong. Chasing people down for voting absence creates unnecessary bureacracy. Computers should simply drop irrepsonsible voters from an active to an inactive status and make those who wish to be reactivated pay for it.

[bobi]

here voting is counted by hand and there is no computer voting.

Voting to me is a duty to this society. It is a very small duty. There are many duties you can avoid but not this one.

As for the Balkans the people are so sick of them it is amazing. It is not that the society is backwards but it is too much disapointed with any kind of elections.

[kosta50]

Voting is a citizenship right. Like any right, you can exercise it or not.

I don't buy the sob story. The society there is backwards. It has always been that way. I am not religious but I believe in the maxim that God helps those who help themselves. By obstaining from the vote they are not helping themselves -- or they are so happy with Djindjich that they don't want to change anything.

The end result may be that Djindjich, who is appointed and who couldn't win if he ran for Boy Scouts of Serbia, will nominate the president and the parliament, with a majority of Djindjich's DOS cronies will "elect" the new president.

So, Serbia will be a model 'demofarce' with a prime minister who is appointed by a president and a president who is essentially appointed by the prime minister's deputies! This doesn't get much better!

Dumb and dumber alert! Watch out for a fine example of Serbia's democratic "tradition" at work.

[kosta50]

BUMP!

[smokegenerator]

Djindjic did not help the matter by not encouraging the voters to come out in force. Laku noc.

Pedal in Peace-
Cycling Challenge for the Children of Serbia
Aug-Sept 2003

[Voronin]

Djindjic's game plan seems to be to ensure the failure of the elections so that he can take advantage of the period that Dr.K. has no job to stitch him up/ consolidate own powerbase. If Dr.K., as a logical counter move, blocks the new constitution, then Dj will have a golden PR opportunity to present Dr.K. as the one blocking reform (who blocked election law reform?)and holding Serbia back to both the domestic audience, and more importantly, his western patrons.

Has anyone got any infor on Dj's financial situation, i.e. any grants recieved from the EU/US/Sorros or any material support? I assume that he has, in which case the publication of such material could damage him even further...

VRN

[smokegenerator]

The choices are difficult in choosing a candidate to vote for this past weekend. Where can you go wrong with Dr. K, Vojislav Seselj (Serbian Radical Party) and Borislav Pelevic (Serbian Unity Party)?

I can only summise to say that weak "leaders" (Djindjic) who are unable to survive independantly are timid of strong and true leaders who oppose him/them.

[vooch]

note, the media pointedly omits how many votes SRS garnered...........

[Voronin]

Unfortunately Dj is more of a politician than Dr.K. Honesty and politics don't mix. Leaders generally don't partake in dirty tricks(with notable exceptions), that is what minions are for. Unfortunately Dj. has the West behind him - notice how quite the 'usual suspect' have been (no doubt fearing that any vocal 'activity' on their part will only damage their patsy Dj). There has been no loud statement by those guardians of democracy, the 'OSCE', the ICG blew its trumpet over how ze Serbs hav created ze kruze mizzile und given it to zee Irakis (what a crock) and the usual selective 'human rights' groups. Never forget Zen... what isn't there? Who aren't we hearing from that we would expect? Just because it cannot be seen or heard, does not mean it is absent...

VRN

[smokegenerator]

do you have any direct links to the official or unofficial vote tally? (frick, its freezing today- 5F!, even Nadas' paws began to freeze while she went running and sliding on sheets of ice/snow)

[Voronin]

SUC news:

BELGRADE, Dec. 8 (Beta) - The Center for Free Elections and Democracy said on Dec. 8 that 2,950,000 voters had voted in the Serbian presidential election held the same day, which was 45.2 percent of registered voters.

Citing preliminary results, the center declared the election a failure. It added that Vojislav Kostunica, running for the Democratic Party of Serbia, had received 1,700,000 votes or 57.5 percent of the total.

Vojislav Seselj of the Serbian Radical Party had 1,070,000 votes, or 36.3 percent. Only 105,000 people, 3.6 percent, voted for Borislav Pelevic of the Party of Serb Unity.

Serbian Legislature Speaker Natasa Micic will become acting president when incumbent President Milan Milutinovic's term expires on Jan. 5. Milutinovic was once a close associate of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

A new election has to be called within 60 days. On Dec. 8, Micic pledged to do a conscientious job and uphold the constitution if the election failed.

And for persons (like myself) who did not realize that the election law had actually been changed:

...The election will be held under the new law on presidential elections, adopted by the Serbian parliament on Nov 5, 2002. The law scraps the 50 percent plus one voter turnout requirement in the potential runoff, but keeps it in place for the first round...

VRN

[kosta50]

Re: #14 Voronin, this is old news. The bottom line is: Djindjich played Koshtunitsa and exposed him to the public as a court jester, a joke(r). Djindjich used Koshtunitsa when he needed him, knowing all too well that the PM, not the president, would call all the shots. The fool took the bait. First he slam-dunked him when he arrestsed Miloshevich, then again when he sent hhim to the hague. Following that, Djindjich used a series of scandals to make Koshtunitsa appear weak and indecisive -- which he is -- until Djindjich blatanalt, and in violation of the DOS agreement, kicked all of DSS (Koshtuintsa's party) elected members of the coalition out of the Parliament and replaced them with his cronies.

Koshtunitsa responded each time by appealing to the courts (!). He is dealing with a thug, and he is "telling on him." What a joke. Koshtunitsa may be the best choice -- but not for Serbia. Serbia doesn't know what democracy is; doesn't care and doesn't deserve it.

Now the situaiton is like this: Koshtunitsa was appointed as a PM. Thus Serbia has a very unpopular politician wjo could never get a job by being elected. And he holds all the executive power in Serbia! Now, after having played Koshtuintsa, he will use the majority in the Parliament that he has to change the law -- so the parliament would elect the president of the country. But since he will appoint his own crony for that ceremonial job, the circus will be complete: appointed prime minister appoints the president who in turn appoints prime ministers...democracy at work.

It is also notable that Djindjich did not bother to change the Serbian Constitution enacted during Miloshevich's regime. One crook should know how good the other crook had it made.

Serbs are political illiterati. They have done this to themselves. They throw hands up in the air and bitch. God helps those who help themselves. I think Serbs deserve the Darwin award of the year for national self-destrcution (exctinction).

[vooch]

nope..........u should'a been in Westchester this weekend saturady morning -15 C !!!

[vooch]

it appears that
SRS garnered a record level of support of some 1.3 million voters
DOS continued to lose support with slightly less than 2 million votes cast in their favour

of course the low turnout may represent Djindic controled B-grad not padding the DOS vote as a way of undermining Kostunica.

[kosta50]

I think the SRS vote was 1.03 million...however, radicalization of the Serbian society is inevitable. The cost of living in Serbia -- since DOS came in to "save the day" -- went up from $150 to $400 a month.

All it takes is for someone charismatic enough to turn apathy into anger. That's precisely what Miloshevich did in 1987, and Koshtunitsa in 2000. All it takes is another Vozhd and you have a tsunami wave out of a calm sea.

You can shove problems under the carpet and pretend they are not there for some time, but sooner or later they will come back and jump out more furious than ever.

Serbia passed a golden opportunity to elect a moderate who actually loves his nation, a true patriot, and a moderate right off center politician who could steer Serbia into European waters and away from the Empire which is, let's admit it, alien to most Europeans.

So, radicalization is inevitable with the status quo. All it takes is a golden opportunity, and a charismatic leader who can energize the apathy into anger and you have another Boston Tea Party, French Revolution, and so on.

[kosta50]

I have a question for all of you:

(1) Officially there are about 6.6 million registered voters in Serbia. We all know that the last census was taken in 1991 and that it is unclear where the number of registered voters comes from. We also know that Kosovo Albanians constitute close to 2 million citizens (on paper) and wonder if they are included on this list. In other words, is the accuracy of the number of real registered voters, living, with a verifable addres, identity card, etc., with a domicle in Serbia now, known to better than plus/minus 10%? If the election commission says 45.7% of the voters cas their ballots, is that really 45.7% or is it a range, say from 40.7 to 50.7%?

Without Kosovo, Serbia has only about 8 million people. How can there possibly be 6.6 million registered voters (82%)in such a population?

(2) I looked at the Serbian Constitution, Article 86, which deal with the "The President of the Republic." Nowhere (to the best of my knowledge) in that section is there any mention what to do if a president fails to be elected. It has provisions for a president who is found in violation of the Constitution, who doesn't finish his term, and so on, in which case the Speaker of the House (President of the Parliament) becomes a caretaker president, but there is no provision for any caretaker government under these circumstances of failed elections.

So, what happens now? Any educated guesses?

[bob808]

Without Kosovo, Serbia has only about 8 million people. How can there possibly be 6.6 million registered voters (82%)in such a population?

First of all, we don't know if those 6.6 million registered voters include Kosovo, correct? So it may be 6.6 million voters out of a population of approximately 10 million. Birth rates are the other key element here. I know they are low accross all of Europe (except Albania), don't know what they are like in Serbia specifically. If people have not been having children over the last 2 decades, that would account for the high percentage of voters in the total population.

So, what happens now?

Well, what's that saying - Nature abhors a vacuum. So I think it's going to be the guy with biggest jaje who is willing to TAKE power will win - and I'm afraid that doesn't look like K.