SARAJEVO, Oct 5 (Hina) - The voter turnout in Saturday's general election in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the morning hours was satisfactory, the country's Electoral Commission reported.
SARAJEVO, Oct 5 (Hina) - The voter turnout in Saturday's general
election in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the morning hours was
satisfactory, the country's Electoral Commission reported. #L#
"By noon, 21.8 percent of the electorate voted," Commission
president Lidija Korac said, adding that she was absolutely
satisfied with the turnout.
She reminded that the morning turnout at previous elections had
been around 15 percent.
Most political leaders and candidates for important posts cast
their ballots this morning.
The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Beriz
Belkic, who voted in Sarajevo, told reporters he expected a neck-
to-neck race between the Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Social
Democratic Party and the Party of Democratic Action in the
Federation, and between the Serb Democratic Party and the Party of
Independent Social Democrats in Republika Srpska.
Haris Silajdzic, who is running for the Bosniak member of the state
presidency, said this year's elections were "the first real
elections" in the country since the end of the war.
"I hope for the best for the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina," he
said.
Silajdzic's rival and incumbent Federation Premier, Alija Behmen,
said after the vote that Bosnian citizens this time voted "for or
against the continuation of reforms".
According to local media, there is a significant number of voters
who could not vote because their names were not on voters lists.
Korac claims that the number of those who could not vote is not big
and is certainly not a cause for concern.
She says that the people in question have missed the 10-month
registration deadline or do not know where to vote.
The interior ministries of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Republika Srpska said this afternoon that the voting was
proceeding without any problems and that the security situation in
the whole country was satisfactory.
The elections are being monitored by 6,909 domestic observers-
members of non-government associations and another 514 foreign
observers, who have not reported any major problems either.
Polling stations in the country are open until 7 pm. The first
preliminary results are expected on Sunday evening, but political
parties are expected to announce their results as early as on the
night between Saturday and Sunday.
(hina) rml