BUJANOVAC, July 29 (Hina) - An early local election, held on Sunday in three municipalities in the Presevo valley, southern Serbia, were in principle conducted in accordance with international standards, international observers said
on Monday.
BUJANOVAC, July 29 (Hina) - An early local election, held on Sunday
in three municipalities in the Presevo valley, southern Serbia,
were in principle conducted in accordance with international
standards, international observers said on Monday. #L#
This was the first election in the area since the end of armed
skirmishes in May 2001, when ethnic Albanians, who accounted for a
majority of the local population, asked for being granted greater
rights, accusing Belgrade of discrimination.
The poll is seen as an important step in bids to ensure a political
solution to the problem and local Albanian residents hope a larger
number of their representatives will be included in the structures
of municipal authorities. Ten political parties, three of which are
Albanians, ran for the election, the system of which was the
proportional representation. The vote was observed by several
hundred international and local monitors.
The election was in principle in compliance with international
standards, but some improvements are still needed, said the head of
the OSCE monitor mission, Nikolay Vulchanov, on Monday.
The process of voting and counting mainly satisfied the legal
demands and everything was in a peaceful atmosphere, Council of
Europe representatives said.
The international observers believe that the positive atmosphere
was created thanks to the representation of all ethnic minorities
and political parties in electoral commissions at all stages of the
electoral process.
First official results of the vote are expected on Monday evening.
(hina) ms