(25 Sep 2000) Serbo-Croat/Nat
XFA
Stunned by an apparent electoral defeat, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic sought to force a runoff despite calls from home and abroad to accept the outcome and end his 13 years in power.

The pro-Western opposition challenger, Vojislav Kostunica, claimed victory in Sunday's ballot and demanded that the State Election Commission release the official count.

The United States and more than a dozen other countries warned Milosevic that they would not accept fraudulent claims of victory.

In the absence of official results, Milosevic's left-wing coalition insisted that the president was ahead in the vote count but not far enough to guarantee that he would avoid a runoff with Kostunica on October the 8th.

At a press conference to bolster morale among the president's shocked and demoralized followers, Gorica Gajevic, Milosevic's party general secretary, said that with 37 percent of the ballots counted, Milosevic was ahead by 45 percent to Kostunica's 40 percent.

Appearing at the same press conference, Ljubisa Ristic, a neo-communist Milosevic ally, insisted Milosevic could still win on the first round.

Ristic, however, admitted Milosevic's coalition suffered a sweeping defeat in municipal elections.

He predicted the left-wing parties will have a majority in the federal parliament.

Parliament has become a relatively ineffectual legislature since Montenegro, the other republic that with Serbia forms Yugoslavia, has been boycotting federal institutions.

An opposition leader said, however, that his group would not accept a runoff simply to appease Milosevic.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"There are also cases of countries saying they have won quickly. But we won in such a way that our victory is undisputed in all the local, parliamentary and presidential elections."
SUPER CAPTION: Vojislav Kostunica, Serbian opposition leader

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"The media was involved in creating a picture of Slobodan Milosevic and the cult that surrounds him despite all his vices. Milosevic was portrayed as an authority, a figure for peace and stability. All in all, he is seen as someone who is the strongman in this region - the only person the Americans, Washington could talk to. And that is the fact I want to highlight, and our hardships came out of that because the international community saw only Milosevic. They saw him as the only negotiator."
SUPER CAPTION: Vojislav Kostunica, Serbian opposition leader

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"I must say according to the sample of 3,021,323 processed voting papers, which was 37 percent of the total vote, our candidate President Milosevic won 1,383,660 votes and Dr. Kostunica, 1,268,636."
SUPERCAPTION: Gorica Gajevic, General Secretary, Socialist Party of Serbia

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"At this moment we don't have enough information to say that our candidate (Milosevic) will win in the first round but we sincerely hope that he will."
SUPERCAPTION: Ljubisa Ristic, Yugoslav United Left

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