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Polling ends in crucial Serbian general elections

AFP - Monday, May 12

BELGRADE (AFP) - - Polling ended Sunday in Serbian parliamentary elections widely considered the most important in the Balkan country since the ouster of late president Slobodan Milosevic.

The turnout was 54.2 percent with one hour of voting left at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), substantially lower than in presidential polls in February, said the non-governmental Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID).

The general elections -- held in conjunction with municipal and local polls -- were also held in Kosovo despite objections from the UN mission in the Serbian province which declared independence in February.

They were called in March after the year-old government of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica collapsed in a rift over ties with the European Union after most EU nations recognised Kosovo's independence.

The issue of Kosovo's independence and its recognition by the most members of the European Union had turned the elections into the a virtual referendum on Serbia's integration into the 27-nation bloc.

Going into the polls, the ultra-nationalist Radical Party was credited with voter support of 34 percent, one point ahead of a pro-European alliance gathered around President Boris Tadic, according to the latest survey.

The Radicals were expected to fall short of an outright majority, but this time they looked set to form a government with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) of outgoing nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Early indications of the outcome were expected at around 9:30 pm (1930 GMT).

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