2007年VOA标准英语-Serbia Prepares to Vote in Parliamentary Electi

Serbians go the polls for parliamentary elections Sunday. Voters will be choosing candidates from 20 political parties and coalitions² who are vying³ for 250 seats in parliament. VOA's Barry Wood in Belgrade reports that while three major parties are expected to win the most votes, forming a stable coalition¹ may be difficult.

A man walks past a wall covered with ripped pre-election posters in Belgrade, 19 Jan 2007

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica heads the Democratic Party of Serbia. His minority government has held power for three years with the tacit support of the opposition⁵ Radicals⁶ and Socialists⁷. In this campaign Mr. Kostunica has pointedly⁸ refused to rule out a future coalition with the Radicals, which some pollsters predict will be the leading vote getters.

The Radicals, whose leader is on trial in the Hague for crimes committed during the Bosnian war, oppose further cooperation with the war crimes tribunal.

Like Mr. Kostunica, the Radicals also reject any diminution⁹ of Serbia's claim to Kosovo, the United Nations administered southern province whose 90 percent ethnic¹⁰ Albanian majority demands independence.

The Democrats¹¹ of President Boris Tadic say Kosovo may have been lost when Serbian troops left the province in 1999, after NATO launched a bombing campaign in response to Serbian atrocities¹² against the Albanian population.

Boris Begovic of Belgrade's Center for Liberal Democratic Studies says it is unclear whether a stable government will result from Sunday's election.

"There is a concept of a solid stable government, which will be the government for the next three or four years. Or, there is the concept of a short-term interim¹³ government-a six-months government if you like-which will have only one task to handle and that is the future status of Kosovo," he said.

U.N. negotiators have been working nearly one year to prepare recommendations for Kosovo's future. Submission¹⁴ of their proposal - which is expected to include a call for limited independence - was delayed so that it would not dominate the Serbian election campaign. It is expected to be unveiled in the next few weeks.

James Lyon, Belgrade representative of the International Crisis Group, says that in the event of an indecisive election the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia have agreed that Mr. Kostunica will stay on as caretaker prime minister.

"If that is indeed the case then Kostunica will try to form a government. But there is a very real possibility that he will be unable to form a government and that after a statutory time period [90 to 120 days] no government will be formed and they will have to hold a new election," he said.

Lyon says the prime minister and president want to buy time to force a delay in the resolution of Kosovo's status. First results in the election are expected Sunday night.