OSCE Chairman-in-Office urges Serbian political leaders to remedy election failures

LISBON, 10 December 2002 - While recognizing the orderly manner in which the repeat presidential election in the Republic of Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was conducted, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Portuguese Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz, regretted that the election failed again due to insufficient voter turnout.

Minister Martins da Cruz expressed his full support for the preliminary conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission and urged all political forces in Serbia to address and remedy the underlying factors for this failure, before another repeat election is scheduled.

The Chairman-in-Office stressed that, although the OSCE stood ready to further assist the Serbian authorities to overcome the present challenges, it was up to the authorities, political forces and civil society to strengthen the democratic institutions and the public confidence in them.

"I strongly encourage the political leaders in Serbia to safeguard the political stability in order to ensure that the democratic and economic reforms continue", he said.

Minister Martins da Cruz also urged again all parties to play their part in ensuring that forthcoming electoral processes in Serbian and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, are conducted in a satisfactory manner.