BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia's pro-Western president declared victory in yesterday's parliamentary elections – a stunning upset over ultranationalists who tried to exploit anger over Kosovo's independence. But his rivals vowed to fight on, and it was unclear if he could stave off their challenge.
“This is a great day for Serbia,” Boris Tadic proclaimed after an independent monitoring group that carried out a parallel vote count said his bloc won 39 percent – about 10 percentage points more than the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party.
“The citizens of Serbia have confirmed Serbia's European path,” he said. “Serbia will be in the European Union. We have promised that, and we will fulfill that.”
Tadic, however, acknowledged his nationalist rivals could still team up against his Coalition for a European Serbia and try to form Serbia's next government. Any alliance that can muster a simple majority in the 250-seat parliament can govern.
Although Tadic's coalition appeared assured of 103 seats, the Radical Party was poised to get 76 seats. If it joined with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's conservative coalition, with 30 seats, and the Socialist Party of the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, with 21, the combined strength would be 127 seats.
Serbian Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic urged his allies to pull together and said he would meet today with Kostunica and the Socialists to form a government.
Official results were not expected until today, but the state electoral commission issued partial results that corresponded to the projections of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy and the tabulations of the main parties.
The center, whose representatives observed vote tallying at polling stations across Serbia, said the Radical Party was running a distant second with 28.6 percent and that Kostunica's bloc had 11.6 percent.
It said the Socialists had 8.2 percent – their best result since Milosevic's ouster in 2000.
The pro-Western coalition's surprisingly strong showing came three months after protesters outraged by Kosovo's Feb. 17 independence declaration set fire to part of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.
Kostunica and Nikolic had tried to capitalize on an acute sense of betrayal after Kosovo gained formal recognition from the United States, among other nations.
That anger had stoked expectations of an electoral backlash that would have squelched Serbia's efforts to prepare for eventual EU membership.
The Radical Party had vowed to steer the country away from the West and toward Russia, and defy demands for the arrest of Gen. Ratko Mladic and other fugitive war-crimes suspects.
The European Union called the success of Tadic's coalition a “clear victory” by pro-European forces.
Officials said turnout was about 60 percent – lower than in January's presidential election but strong for a parliamentary vote.
Voters also cast ballots yesterday in Kosovo, where Serb leaders organized parallel local elections in defiance of international authorities. The U.N. branded the local elections illegal but did not stop people from voting; NATO peacekeepers stepped up patrols as a precaution. No incidents were reported.
Serbs consider Kosovo the heart of their ancient homeland and Serbian Orthodox faith, and their bitterness has nudged the country toward ultranationalists promising to restore bruised national pride.
The nationalists also sought to exploit disenchantment with a 30 percent unemployment rate, rising prices and corruption.
