| Diaspora urged to participate in elections |
| 5 January 2008 | 13:40
| Source:
Tanjug |
BELGRADE --
Diaspora Minister Milica Čubrilo has called on members of the Serbian diaspora to vote in large numbers.
 | Milica Čubrilo (FoNet, archive)
|
Čubrilo hopes that the first presidential elections since Serbia became independent will encourage a much bigger turnout than before.
“The diaspora is an important segment that can decide Serbia’s socio-political life, given that, according to estimates, there are three to four million Serbian citizens living abroad,” the minister told daily Večernje Novosti.
She added that there were an estimated half a million potential voters there.
One of the reasons Serbian ex-pats do not participate at elections in larger numbers is, according to Čubrilo, the fact that the majority are not registered in diplomatic-consular representative offices, or they have not changed their place of residence, and are still registered as domestic voters, while another problem is the lack of access for some voters to these representative offices.
Asked which candidate diaspora voters trusted most, the minister said that “according to results of the 2004 presidential and 2007 parliamentary elections, the majority of the diaspora votes for the democratic option in Serbia.”
“Those who left Serbia in the nineties unhappy with the situation in the country believe in the democratic option – for Serbia’s path to Europe – and give it their vote,” she explained.
Čubrilo added that the ministry was attempting to motivate the diaspora by explaining to people how to register abroad, and thus become eligible to vote.
Increased turnout could also be helped by being allowed to vote outwith diplomatic offices, in locations which obtain the necessary legal documentation and approval, the minister added.
|
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