OPPOSITION CONFIDENT OF VICTORY, MILOSEVIC BUYING TIME

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005445134
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2010
• Case Number: F-2009-00733
• Publication Date: September 25, 2000

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25 September 2000
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Opposition Confident of Victory, Milosevic Buying Time
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) has called on its supporters to take to the streets
Monday evening to celebrate (DOS) presidential candidate Kostunica's election victory. The
DOS claims that Kostunica is poised for a first-round victory, with its own preliminary count
showing that he has 55 percent of the vote while PRY President Milosevic has only 34
percent. Belgrade Radio announced on Monday that the Federal Election Commission
would release official results tomorrow at noon.
? The DOS announced that its unofficial estimate shows that Kostunica has 2.9
million votes versus Milosevic's 1.9 million. An opposition spokesman said that
Milosevic needs to find more than 400,000 votes just to get to the second round.
? In the FRY parliamentary elections, the opposition is publicly claiming that the
DOS has won 59 of the 108 seats in the lower house of the federal assembly,
while the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS)-Yugoslav United Left (JUL) coalition has
won 44 seats. In the upper house, the DOS claims it has won 10 seats, the left
coalition has won 7, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) has won 2, and Vuk
Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) has garnered one seat.
? In Serbian local elections, the DOS claims it has won 85 municipaliti s while the
SPS-JUL coalition has won around 30, according to press reports
Meanwhile, the ruling SPS publicly contends that Milosevic is leading Kostunica in the
presidential race with 45 percent of the vote to Kostunica's 40 percent, and FRY Prime
Minister Bulatovic claimed that the Socialist People's Party (SNP) gained 28 out of 30
Montenegrin seats in the lower house of parliament and 19 out of 20 in the upper house.
Bulatovic said that just under 30 percent of Montenegrins participated in the elections-a
figure disputed by the Montenegrin governing parties, which boycotted the vote.
? Nevertheless, a senior SPS official acknowledged that he "could not say with
certainty" that Milosevic would win the presidential contest in the first round.
? The regime also admits that the alition has lost control at the local
level in "certain municipalities."
Prepared by: DCIInteragency Balkan Task Force. Please direct any questions or comments to~
APPROVED FOR RELEASE[] DATE:
06-23-2010
 SPO leader Draskovic has publicly announced his intention to resign as party leader and SRS
leader Seselj has offered to resign from unspecified leadership positions because of their
respective parties' poor showing in the elections. These probably represent face-saving
gestures rather than genuine moves to retire at this point, but the announcements could
signal a willingness by their leaders to align with Kostunica and the DOS should
Milosevic decide to hold the second round of elections.
? Draskovic congratulated Kostunica on his election victory and expressed
disappointment with the SPO's showing in the elections, blaming himself for not
cooperating with the DOS.