YUGOSLAVIA: CACAK: ELECTION: OPPOSITION VICTORY скачать в хорошем качестве

YUGOSLAVIA: CACAK: ELECTION: OPPOSITION VICTORY

(27 Sep 2000) Serbo-Croat/Nat XFA Some 15-thousand citizens of the central Serbian town of Cacak gathered on Tuesday night in the main square to celebrate the election victory for the opposition. Opposition supporters waved banners and chanted anti-Milosevic slogans and waved banners and flags. Local opposition leader Velja Ilic made victory speeches, greeted by loud cheers. SOUNDBITE: (Serbian) "The people do not want Milosevic any more. As you have seen in the square, people want changes. Citizens of Serbia showed that the second round will not be necessary, they voted for Vojislav Kostunica. He won, and when we counted the votes, he's got 54 percent. He should be proclaimed the president of the state." SUPER CAPTION: Velja Ilic, local opposition leader The opposition won a landslide victory in Cacak municipal elections, leaving pro-Milosevic forces with no seats in local assembly. Opposition leaders nationwide have rebuffed President Slobodan Milosevic's claim that he earned enough votes to force a runoff in presidential elections, pledging to defend the will of the people by all means short of violence. Milosevic defied international and domestic appeals for him to step down on Tuesday, instead announcing a runoff election against opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica, who insists he won Sunday's election outright. Kostunica quickly counter attacked, rejecting a runoff and talking of fraud and vote stealing. He plans a massive rally on Wednesday night in downtown Belgrade to defend the results. Opposition leaders demanded the chance to inspect the election commission's returns and insisted on restraint after the federal commission's volatile announcement, its first since the vote. The commission reported that Kostunica finished first with 48.22 percent while Milosevic earned 40.23 percent. Under Yugoslav law, a runoff is required since none of the candidates received more than 50 percent. It was set for October 8. State television said the turnout was 64 percent, far below the 74 percent figure given by the opposition. The runoff announcement came despite growing international calls for Milosevic to accept an opposition victory. Even before it was declared, President Clinton insisted the will of the people must be respected. The United States also pledged on Tuesday to lead an international campaign to pressure Milosevic into accepting the outcome. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...