Voice of America, 00-04-09 (fwd)

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] BOSNIA ELECTION (L-ONLY) BY TIM BELAY (TIRANA)

[01] BOSNIA ELECTION (L-ONLY) BY TIM BELAY (TIRANA)

INTRO: A multi-ethnic opposition party in Bosnia claims early results show it has defeated wartime nationalists in a number of local elections in the majority Muslim areas of the country. Tim Belay reports.

TEXT: The Social Democratic Party -- or SDP-- controlled only the northern town of Tuzla before Saturday's election. But party leaders say this round of voting has put them on track to become the single biggest party in Bosnia. Victories for the SDP in Bosnia's second post-war local poll would fulfill the hopes of Western leaders who said they wanted to see Bosnians reject the economic and political sluggishness that they blame on the nationalist leaders. Surveys before the election predicted gains for relatively moderate politicians in some areas, including Sarajevo, because of frustration over the poor state of the economy. SDP Secretary-General Karlo Filipovic says the party had secured more than 50 percent of the vote or was the single biggest party in the capital Sarajevo, in Tuzla and in the central Bosnian town of Zenica. There was no official word on voter turnout but the voting time was extended by one hour on Saturday after some people had problems locating their stations. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which supervised the elections, is expected to release preliminary results on Monday. It will take time to collect the full results because so many voters are either outside the country or are refugees scattered around the country since the end of the 1992-1995 war. About 2.5 million Bosnians were eligible to vote for councils in 145 municipalities. (Signed)
NEB/TB/PLM 09-Apr-2000 04:51 AM EDT (09-Apr-2000 0851 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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