BELGRADE (Thomson Financial) - Serbian hardliner Tomislav Nikolic was leading reformist Boris Tadic in the Serbian presidental race, but a run-off is expected, according to partial results released late Sunday by independent monitors.
Nikolic had won 39.4 pct of the votes, while Tadic obtained 35.4 pct, independent monitors at the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) estimated.
Neither of the candidates would gain enough votes to win in the first round, CESID concluded.
The estimate was based on 60 pct of their counting sample of 700 polling stations throughout Serbia, with a turnout of about 60 pct of the 6.7 mln electorate, said Zoran Lucic of CESID.
If Sunday's results were confirmed, the run-off would be held on Feb 3, in a repeat of the 2004 election, which was narrowly won by Tadic. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com vs COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.