Nikolić mulls organizing demonstrations

SNS party leader and presidential candidate Tomislav Nikolic has announced the possibility of protests taking place ahead of the presidential vote runoff. Nikolic and DS leader Boris Tadic will run in the second round on May 20. Nikolic mulls organizing demonstrations Nikolic, who on Thursday leveled serious accusations of election rigging against the Democratic Party (DS), said on Thursday that he would "not rest until the theft has been investigated". "I am seriously considering what we should do in the May 20 elections," he told locals in a village near the town of Krusevac, central Serbia, where he campaigned today, and added: "I am seriously considering us gathering in Belgrade a day before elections to show that gang that we will not take this, that we are more proud, honest, that we are stronger and braver than they think we are." Nikolic also urged voters "to do the same they did on May 6, if I decide to call on you to take part in the May 20 voting". If, however, his decision turns out to be to call on them to take part in demonstrations, the SNS leader said the citizens "should make up their own minds about what to do". "If elections do take place you will have to (urge) your neighbors, family, friends to turn out... This time we will go with our ballots, we will sit in all the places where the counting is done, we'll collect our own numbers, publish our own results, the accurate ones, and if they have fake ones, we will enter great conflicts," Nikolic was quoted as saying. He further noted that it was "likely the first time in history that a winner is complaining about the regularity of elections", but added that this was the case "because the SNS does not know the margin of its victory". "We caught them stealing in the elections and now they can talk all they like," he said of the Democrats. "If we had the media, television outlets, Serbia would be abuzz today with talk of rigged elections, but what we have are servile media, (media) owners being threatened that their unpaid taxes would be determined, we have the state television that we all pay fees to, but which serves Tadic alone," Nikolic continued. He also stated that in 2000, the opposition coalition DOS that sought to oust Slobodan Milosevic and his regime, "had the media eager to help it based only on its claims of election fraud, without any evidence", and that this spurred the masses to rise up. Meanwhile, Democratic Party officials qualified Nikolic's statement that he expected "massive protests" as "an open threat of violence". Tomislav Nikolic (Tanjug) Beta

Nikolić mulls organizing demonstrations

Nikolić, who on Thursday leveled serious accusations of election rigging against the Democratic Party (DS), said on Thursday that he would "not rest until the theft has been investigated".

"I am seriously considering what we should do in the May 20 elections," he told locals in a village near the town of Kruševac, central Serbia, where he campaigned today, and added:

"I am seriously considering us gathering in Belgrade a day before elections to show that gang that we will not take this, that we are more proud, honest, that we are stronger and braver than they think we are."

Nikolić also urged voters "to do the same they did on May 6, if I decide to call on you to take part in the May 20 voting". If, however, his decision turns out to be to call on them to take part in demonstrations, the SNS leader said the citizens "should make up their own minds about what to do".

"If elections do take place you will have to (urge) your neighbors, family, friends to turn out... This time we will go with our ballots, we will sit in all the places where the counting is done, we'll collect our own numbers, publish our own results, the accurate ones, and if they have fake ones, we will enter great conflicts," Nikolić was quoted as saying.

He further noted that it was "likely the first time in history that a winner is complaining about the regularity of elections", but added that this was the case "because the SNS does not know the margin of its victory".

"We caught them stealing in the elections and now they can talk all they like," he said of the Democrats. "If we had the media, television outlets, Serbia would be abuzz today with talk of rigged elections, but what we have are servile media, (media) owners being threatened that their unpaid taxes would be determined, we have the state television that we all pay fees to, but which serves Tadić alone," Nikolić continued.

He also stated that in 2000, the opposition coalition DOS that sought to oust Slobodan Milošević and his regime, "had the media eager to help it based only on its claims of election fraud, without any evidence", and that this spurred the masses to rise up.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party officials qualified Nikolić's statement that he expected "massive protests" as "an open threat of violence".