CESID: Constitution ratified

CESID: Constitution ratified

CeSID says the greatest turnout was in Kosovo – 90,036 or 90.1 percent and the smallest was in Vojvodina – 45.9 percent. 

In Vojvodina, 42.7 percent of the electorate voted in favor of the Constitution. In Belgrade the turnout was 53.1 percent, while 51.8 percent cast an affirmative vote. In Central Serbia the turnout was 56.1 percent and the affirmative vote was 54.6 percent.

No major irregularities, says Commission

The Republic Election Commission (RIK) said there were no major voting irregularities that could affect the outcome of the referendum.

The Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) said that, within their sample of observed polling stations, there had been several serious irregularities observes. Some citizens were allowed to vote without their ID, and several families were allowed to vote together behind the voting screen.

Marko Blagojević of CeSID said previously that some members of the elections boards were a little nervous, and stressed that the vote had to reflect the will of the people completely.

He added that the number of polling stations with irregularities was not significant, but added that these had been serious violations of the voting procedure. CeSID has informed the RIK of these irregularities, Blagojević said.

RIK announced earlier 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.

The polliing station, 8,385 in total, opened at 7 am this morning, and will close at 8 pm. The referendum is being monitored by 68 foreign observers.

Marković: Choice between Democratic state and dictatorship

The Serbian Parliamentary Speaker Predrag Marković said that the voters had shown at the referendum that they believed in a democratic state and were aware that one could not exist without a Constitution.

“I hope everyone will learn a lesson from what went on during the past two days”, Marković told a press conference. He added that some politicians seem to have forgotten that a failure of the referendum could have meant inviting a protectorate or a dictatorship.

Marković said that the polling stations have been officially closed and that the “citizens of Serbia had voted two days for the first time in history over a matter of such great importance for their country”.

He thanked the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Russian Federation for deploying their observers, “because it was very important for Serbia to have accurate readings of the referendum”.

The head of Parliament said that if the new Constitution has been ratified by popular vote, he would call the Serbian Parliament to convene in order to proclaim that the new foundational law of Serbia is officially in effect.

Electorate underestimated

The reason why there was a low turnout of the electorate at the referendum, according to CeSID member Zoran Lučić was an erroneous campaign and the fact that political parties did not interpret well the motives of the voters.

“Times are changing. In his time, Slobodan Milošević could rely on having a positive impact with his Kosovo rethoric. However, if the referendum fails, the reason for this will be an erroneous argumentation of the political elite and their underestimating the electorate, he said.

Lučić added that voter turnout was higher in polling areas where DS and DSS were strong.

Albanians in South Serbia boycott referendum

President of the Municipal Referendum Commission in Bujanovac Dragan Veličković said this official body was working under difficult conditions.

“Since the Albanians are boycotting the referendum and because all the levers of local government were in the hands of Albanian parties, we have been confronted with difficulties the solution of which required great efforts”, Veličković said

He said that the activities of the Commission were obstructed by the judge of the Municipal Court and his deputy Iljaz Mustafa and Faruš Isljami, while the local authorities withdrew the technical secretary from the Commission one day before the referendum.

President of the Municipality of Preševo Ragmi Mustafa explained that Albanians in South Serbia were boycotting the referendum because they had not been consulted while the constitution was being drafted.

“In the Preamble of the Constitution there is a piece of territory that is a UN protectorate – Kosovo. Negotiations between Belgrade and Priština over this territory are still in progress. For us Albanians it is unacceptable for a territory under UN protectorate to be included into the Constitutional Preamble”, he said.

131 voting slips too many

The President of the Municipal Electoral Commission in Bujanovac Dragan Veličković was unable to explain how 131 extra voting slips found their way into the voting box at the polling station in Strugarska mahala in Veliki Trnovac.

Veličković said this would be clarified tonight, after polling stations were officially closed down and the voting boxes sealed.

An official of the Party for Democratic Action in Bujanovac Šaip Kamberi said the election board at polling station 3 at the Primary School in Veliki Trnovac had forged the results by placing 131 voting slips into the polling box.

“No one at his polling station wanted to vote. The Election Board forced the janitor of the school, whose duty was to open the doors of the polling station so that the referendum could begin, to cast his vote and be the first voter at this polling station, Kamberi said.

Reactions to the first day of voting

The government’s media office chief Srđan Đurić says yesterday’s trunout was "not bad since, ahead of the second day of the referendum,18 percent of voters have already voted”.

“We are certain Serbia will take the matters into her own hands in the second day and that the citizens will display patriotism, voting from the early morning hours for the good of their country, in favor of the new constitution”, Đurić said.

Serbian prime minister’s advisor Vladeta Janković and the Democratic Party (DS) political council chairman Dragoljub Mićunović told B92 it was difficult to estimate how yesterday’s turnout might affect the final result of the vote.

Janković believes the failure of the referendum would have negative consequences on domestic politics and Serbia’s international reputation.

“The fact is our position vis-à-vis Kosovo would be far more serious and difficult, and should an unfavorable solution for Kosovo occur shortly, and we are left without a constitution, we will have plenty to blame ourselves for”, Janković says.

Dragoljub Mićunović believes that the first day turnout has to do with mentality – if there are two days available to fulfill an obligation, Mićunović says, then people will likely opt to do it on the second day.

“It’s a bit tricky, we really have nothing to compare this situation with. We always used to have one-day voting, and on the afternoon of that day the turnout was clear. Now we have an unknown factor, we don’t know how many people postponed their participation for the next day”, Mićunović says.

International media: Kosovo is the key

International coverage of the referendum focuses on the Kosovo provision of Serbia’s proposed new constitution.

Euronews reports that it was Montenegro's secession from Serbia in its own referendum in June that forced Belgrade to draw up a new constitution, with the vote coming at a sensitive time as UN-mediated talks are underway to try to determine the future status of Kosovo. “Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica has campaigned hard to sell the hastily-drafted charter with a message that it is for the "good of Serbia", which considers Kosovo its religious and national heartland“, Euronews reports.

The Associated Press says in its coverage that “the Serbian government says the proposed constitution consolidates democracy and the rule of law in the country, which hopes to restart stalled membership talks with the European Union. But the focus has been on the preamble's declaration that predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo is an ’integral part of Serbia.’“

“Western diplomats have warned Belgrade that the charter will have no effect on the talks, and Kosovo's Albanian leaders dismissed the constitution as inconsequential for their future.“

Serbian leaders hoped for a big turnout on Sunday in a two-day referendum to win approval from at least half of the electorate needed for a new constitution, Reuters reports. However, “only 17.5 percent of 6.6 million on the rolls had voted by the time polls shut for the night.“

“Some small groups kept up calls for a boycott to protest the document's "vague" contents and "shameful" method of adoption, which they said was a backroom deal among the major parties.

The heavyweight daily Politika, however, said this was minor carping about a document which, while not perfect, was an essential step in the country's transformation to a modern democracy on the road to eventual European Union membership“, Reuters says in its report from Belgrade.

BBC reminds that the constitution proposal, already adopted by the parliament, has among its 200 articles guarantees for minority and human rights and the granting of a form of self-rule for the province of Vojvodina, and also calls for the end of the death penalty - and a ban on human cloning.

“But the most controversial aspect of the draft constitution is the claim that the province of Kosovo remains an integral part of Serbia. In international law, Kosovo remains a province of Serbia, even though it is under UN administration“, BBC says.