Belgrade - Independent election monitors said the turnout in the second round of Serbia's presidential election yesterday failed to exceed the 50 per cent threshold for a valid result.
The centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) told reporters that only some 47.5 per cent of the 7.2 million electorate had voted.
If confirmed by the election commission, the figures meant neither the Socialist candidate, Mr Zoran Lilic, nominee of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, nor his radical nationalist challenger, Mr Vojislav Seselj, could be elected.
In presidential elections in Montenegro, Serbia's smaller but equal partner in the Yugoslav federation, first results tipped Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic to defeat outgoing President Momir Bulatovic, who was Mr Milosevic's candidate.