BELGRADE, Dec 29 (Hina) - Representatives of international observer missions in Serbia said on Monday yesterday's parliamentary election was free and fair but that electoral legislation needed to be changed.
BELGRADE, Dec 29 (Hina) - Representatives of international observer
missions in Serbia said on Monday yesterday's parliamentary election
was free and fair but that electoral legislation needed to be
changed.#L#
A downside to the ballot was the fact that three slates were headed by
people indicted by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague -- Slobodan
Milosevic, Vojislav Seselj and Nebojsa Pavkovic, they told reporters,
stressing that presumed innocence must not be used as a front to hide
the moral and political responsibility for the recent wars in the
region.
The polls were democratic and in accordance with the standards of the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of
Europe, the two institutions' representatives said in talks with
Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, adding however
that electoral legislation had to be amended so that minorities could
have representation in parliament, the foreign ministry said in a
statement.
The Together for Tolerance coalition, which consisted mainly of
representatives of ethnic minorities, did not pass the five percent
electoral threshold.
(Hina) ha