Newsroom
Yugoslav election results must be published in detail
WARSAW 27 September 2000
WARSAW, 26 September 2000 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) calls for the urgent publication of all polling station results for the 24 September elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
"The results of the presidential race reportedly were announced Tuesday night in a highly suspicious manner," said ODIHR Director Gérard Stoudmann. According to sources in Belgrade, the Chairman of the Yugoslav Federal Election Commission opened the first session of the commission convened since Sunday night, pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, and without any deliberation in the commission, announced that Slobodan Milosevic had won 40% of the presidential vote and Vojislav Kostunica 48%, allegedly necessitating a second round on 8 October.
While the Federal Election Commission announcement includes no details, non-partisan and opposition political party sources have published the outcome of independent parallel counts taken from the certified results of an overwhelming number of polling stations. These independent counts show Kostunica in the lead by a margin of more than 15% over Milosevic, and most likely winning the contest in the first round.
"If the Commission wants to convince the voters of Yugoslavia that the announced results are not fabricated, they must publish the full details of the results for all polling stations, for any intermediate levels, and for the federal level," said Ambassador Stoudmann. "The population can then be the judge by comparing the details of the Federal Election Commission results to those available to independent sources, showing a clear and convincing win by Kostunica in the first round. Otherwise, the will of the people will be totally undermined," added the ODIHR Director.
On 25 September, the OSCE/ODIHR published a Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions detailing its concerns about the Sunday poll.
For further information contact Konrad Olszewski, ODIHR Election Officer, +48-520 06 00.
"The results of the presidential race reportedly were announced Tuesday night in a highly suspicious manner," said ODIHR Director Gérard Stoudmann. According to sources in Belgrade, the Chairman of the Yugoslav Federal Election Commission opened the first session of the commission convened since Sunday night, pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, and without any deliberation in the commission, announced that Slobodan Milosevic had won 40% of the presidential vote and Vojislav Kostunica 48%, allegedly necessitating a second round on 8 October.
While the Federal Election Commission announcement includes no details, non-partisan and opposition political party sources have published the outcome of independent parallel counts taken from the certified results of an overwhelming number of polling stations. These independent counts show Kostunica in the lead by a margin of more than 15% over Milosevic, and most likely winning the contest in the first round.
"If the Commission wants to convince the voters of Yugoslavia that the announced results are not fabricated, they must publish the full details of the results for all polling stations, for any intermediate levels, and for the federal level," said Ambassador Stoudmann. "The population can then be the judge by comparing the details of the Federal Election Commission results to those available to independent sources, showing a clear and convincing win by Kostunica in the first round. Otherwise, the will of the people will be totally undermined," added the ODIHR Director.
On 25 September, the OSCE/ODIHR published a Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions detailing its concerns about the Sunday poll.
For further information contact Konrad Olszewski, ODIHR Election Officer, +48-520 06 00.