[ELECTION 2005] Second Chance

Two weeks ago Croatian public took great deal of pride over the fact the presidential election was the first one not monitored by foreign NGOs and election watchdogs. This was taken as a proof of Croatian democracy being mature and not needing foreigners to rescue it from being overtaken by authoritarian past.

However, after the initial disbelief allegations about fraud at Bosnian polling stations became legitimate enough for Ivica Crnić (Ivica Crnic), chairman of State Electoral Commission, to admit that something was very wrong. Ivica Crnić said that the State Electoral Commission had replaced the electoral board members at the problematic polling stations.

This time, however, at least some people are taking fewer chance. According to official data, there are 222 more election observers more than in the first round and some 22 OSCE observers are going to cover polling stations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro.