Exit poll shows Kostunica ahead in Serbia election

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Vojislav Kostunica won the first round in Serbia's presidential race Sunday, pulling away from a pro-Western candidate in the first election since the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic, exit polls showed.

The unofficial results released by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, an independent watchdog group, gave Kostunica the win with 31 percent with 100 percent of the vote counted. Finishing in second with 28 percent was Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus, giving him a spot in a runoff vote.

Ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj, who was backed by Milosevic, finished in third with 22 percent, which was much higher than expected.

Official results are not expected before Monday but exit polls from the CeSID have proven reliable in the past.

"Seselj's showing was the biggest surprise," said Kostunica's top political adviser, Slobodan Samardzic.

Seselj assumed the role of the spoiler early in the race -- relishing his role as the candidate who unashamedly embraced the nationalistic views that led Yugoslavia into the Balkan wars.

Seselj's showing is seen as an indication that Serbia has not yet moved fully moved beyond the extreme nationalism that marked Slobodan Milosevic's tenure.

The race came after voters in Serbia showed little interest in Sunday's vote, staying home in large numbers after a campaign that generated little enthusiasm.

Turnout was an estimated 55 percent, one of the lowest since the multiparty system was introduced in 1990. Such a turnout favored Seselj, with a committed core of voters.

Gone was the euphoria that accompanied the ballot leading to Milosevic's ouster in 2000 -- when turnout hit nearly 75 percent. In its place was dismay over the lack of clear improvement in living standards promised by the post-Milosevic government.

Though the national currency, the dinar, has remained stable, buying power has eroded as prices climb and wages fail to keep pace. The cost of feeding a family of four has risen from $150 to $400 over the past two years, government figures show. The cost of electricity, heat and water have jumped by as much as nine times.

Among those trickling through to Belgrade's Polling Station 48 was Zagorka Butkovic, who considered it her duty to vote despite the damp day.

"I would have marched through snow if I had to," said the 70-year-old retiree, her lime green coat buttoned tight to her chin. "We are hoping for something better."

Fixing the troubled economy and safeguarding welfare benefits have been the key election issues in this Balkan country of 10 million. But the campaign was lackluster, dragged down by the absence of sharp differences between the early front-runners, Kostunica and Labus.

Kostunica was the leading figure in the 2000 revolt, a moderate nationalist whose stodgy suits and reputation for honesty appealed to voters exhausted by the political manipulations of the Milosevic years.

The 58-year-old law school professor is losing his present job next year under constitutional changes envisioned to transform Yugoslavia into a loose union of its two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.

Kostunica campaigned on a platform promising less radical economic reforms than those advocated by Labus, his main rival and a former ally. But in his typical low-key style, he demurred when asked if he believed he might pull out a victory without a runoff.

"It would be more rational if everything was completed in one round," he said. "But we are not the most rational people in the world and, besides, there are 11 candidates."

Labus has spearheaded the country's efforts to negotiate loans and aid with the West, pushing for swift action to shut down aging factories and spur growth in the stagnating economy.

The 55-year-old economist is backed by Serbia's Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who has a long-standing feud with Kostunica over the pace of reforms and the decision to hand over Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of war crimes and genocide.

"I believe we'll live better tomorrow," Labus said at his cast his ballot at a Belgrade school, "and that we will continue on our path toward the European Union."

The dark horse in the race was Seselj, an ultranationalist who leads the Serbian Radical Party. Milosevic, from his detention cell in the Netherlands, has openly backed Seselj, his former coalition partner.

Serbia's current president, Milan Milutinovic, could not run for re-election because he is wanted by the U.N. court on war crimes charges related to the war in 1998-1999 war in Kosovo.