Serbian voters have approved a new constitution in a referendum
with 51.46 percent of registered voters voting in favor of the
bill, the Republic Election Commission said on Sunday evening,
citing preliminary results.
The commission said in a statement that according to preliminary
results turnout at the referendum was 53.66 percent of registered
voters, and these results were obtained after the processing of
10.6 percent of ballots.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica congratulated citizens
the approval of the new constitution of the Republic of Serbia and
said it was "a historic moment and a new start" for Serbia.
Kostunica, in a statement to national broadcaster Radio
Television Serbia, said the fact that over one half of the
electorate have voted for approving the new constitution is
"something we have to be proud of".
The Republic Election Commission has established that 6,639,385
citizens are eligible to vote. In order for the constitution to be
adopted, half of those registered plus one must vote in favor.
A total of 8,385 polling stations, which opened from 7 AM to 8
PM on Saturday and Sunday, were monitored by 68 foreign observers
as well as 1335 Serbian observers.
On Saturday there were only 18 percent of voters casting their
ballots, raising the fears that the referendum might fail over
voter apathy.
Kostunica on Sunday once more called on citizens to vote in the
referendum. He warned that the consequences of the referendum's
failure would be "far reaching".
Besides replacing the 1990 constitution drawn up under the era
of Slobodan Milosevic, the new bill enshrines Kosovo as an
"inalienable" part of Serbia, in an eleventh hour bid to block the
independence demanded by the ethnic Albanian majority of the
province.
Kosovo has been put under UN administration since 1999 when NATO
intervened to stop Serbia's crackdown on separatist Kosovo
Albanians. The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status was
launched at the end of 2005, while the international Contact Group
of six major powers has set the deadline of concluding status talks
by the end of 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2006)
