Tuesday April 24 9:55 AM ET
Pro-Yugo Bloc Wants to Check Montenegro Vote Lists

PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Anti- independence parties in Montenegro said on Tuesday they wanted to check voters' lists before deciding whether to accept the results of weekend parliamentary elections in the Yugoslav republic.

``We have clear grounds to think there were certain irregularities but I don't want to announce a final judgement,'' said Predrag Bulatovic, head of the Socialist People's Party, the main party in the ``Together for Yugoslavia'' coalition.

Provisional results from almost all polling stations in Sunday's vote showed a narrow victory for President Milo Djukanovic's pro-independence bloc over the alliance which wants the republic to stay with Serbia inside Yugoslavia.

The margin of victory was less than 5,000 votes and left Djukanovic's bloc with only two more seats in parliament than their main rivals.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored the vote, on Monday declared the election largely free and fair, saying it was generally in line with international commitments for democratic elections.

But coalition leaders said they wanted to check electoral registers against lists of Montenegrin residents at the ministry of interior of the small coastal republic, which forms the Yugoslav federation together with much larger Serbia.

Dragan Soc, leader of the People's Party, said it was now up to the government whether to accept the request, adding it could take seven to 10 days for all such checks to be made.

Soc and Bulatovic said they had asked visiting European Union officials to support them in their request.

Tiit Kabin, special OSCE coordinator for the Montenegrin elections, said there had been some cases of political pressure on state employees and police involvement in campaign activities.

However, ``on election day the polling and vote count was largely in accordance with the law. Only a few isolated shortcomings were observed,'' he told reporters on Monday.

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