Court orders Serb re-vote

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Serbia's Supreme Court has ordered a partial re-run of December's parliamentary election, delaying the creation of a new government until the end of the month.

The Radicals, who won 23 seats in the Serbian parliamentary election, asked for the re-run in 19 of Serbia's 8,000 polling stations, after voting irregularities were found.

The Democratic Opposition of Serbia party, which won a landslide 64 percent share of the vote, said the new vote would only "delay the constitution of the new government by between 10 and 20 days."

The news comes as Yugoslavia sends its Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic to the United States -- the first trip by a minister to the U.S. since the NATO alliance's 78-day bombing of the Balkan country in 1999.

The new poll, set for next Wednesday, is expected to yield only one possible extra seat for the Radicals, who came third in the original vote on December 23.

But it will postpone the Serb parliament's first meeting and as a result the assembly's approval of a new cabinet until late January.

DOS, the multi-party coalition headed by new Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, is eager to implement a swathe of reforms in a country suffering fuel shortages and power cuts.

REFERENCE Serbia Decides: Parliamentary Elections   •  Overview   •  What's at stake   •  Kostunica profile   •  Djindjic profile   •  Djindjic interview   •  Story archive   •  Message board   •  In-depth: Yugoslavia in Transition   •  Kosovo: Prospects for Peace   •  Audio file: Djindjic     Start the serious work Make courts independent

Serbia's Prime Minister designate Zoran Djindjic, the leader of the Democratic Party and a DOS member, has not announced his cabinet yet, but wants to implement measures that will also crackdown on corruption.

Serbia is currently governed by a shared cabinet consisting of ministers from DOS, the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement and the Socialists.

The December 23 parliamentary election saw DOS win 176 out of the 250 seats, Milosevic's Socialists 37 seats, the Radicals 23 and the nationalist Party of Serbian Unity, 14 seats.

DOS spokesman Cedomir Jovanovic said the new government will respect the court's decision but added "the Radicals just want to obstruct democratic changes in the country."

Three of the 19 polling stations being re-run are in the capital, Belgrade, four in the southern town of Leskovac, and 12 in scattered locations across Serbia. A total of 4,000 voters are registered at those polling stations.

The Yugoslav trip to the U.S. on Thursday during which Svilanovic is to meet Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will mark the end of an era of conflict with NATO.

Ethnic tension between Albanians and Serbs along Kosovo's border and U.S. aid to Yugoslavia will be on the agenda.

Svilanovic is expected to meet on Friday with members of Congress to discuss $150 million of U.S. aid and the new U.S.-Yugoslav bilateral relationship.

In addition to implementing democratic and economic reforms and demonstrating it can be a good neighbour to Bosnia and Kosovo, U.S. officials want Yugoslavia to release about 600 Albanian political prisoners allegedly captured by Serbs during the war in Kosovo.

The meeting is also likely to address Montenegro's push for independence, which the U.S. has discouraged.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

Serbian minister quits over power crisis
December 29, 2000
Serbs 'set deadline over Kosovo border'
December 29, 2000
Results confirm Milosevic party rout
December 27, 2000
Djindjic: Milosevic will be pursued
December 25, 2000
'New era' in Serbian politics
December 25, 2000

U.S. State Department, Official Web Site
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.