| "През целия ХХ в. десницата печелеше всичките 20 района в Париж" Vie ludi li ste che pleshtite takiva GLUPOSTI. Che spored vas koi dosega upravliavashe v 18,19,20 raion? Pone chetete i gledaite chuzhdi osvedomitelni sredstva predi da pishete vreli nekipeli. Tazi tema tuk e neznachitelna razbira se za balgarite, no vaprosat e printsipen. Chesto informatsiata vi e netochna. |
| Eurosceptics set to benefit as Latvians flock to the polls RIGA, March 11 (AFP) - Latvia went to the polls in municipal elections on Sunday in a vote which saw near record turnout and which is expected to see gains for eurosceptic opposition parties. Polling stations closed across the country at 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) with election officials saying they expected an overall turnout of 60 percent of the country's 1.3 million registered voters. "We believe that by the end of the day we will see record turnout numbers, at least in the countryside," a spokeswoman for the Baltic country's central election commission, Kristine Berzina, told AFP. The commission reported that in some rural precincts, two-thirds of eligible voters had cast ballots by 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), with six hours remaining until polling stations closed. Figures from the capital city Riga were not available, but Berzina believed turnout was much lower. Results, due early Monday, are expected to show strong gains for the opposition Social Democratic Workers Party, and undermine the strength of the national center-right coalition government. Economic reform dominated the election agenda with frustrated voters expected to be turning to opposition parties. The Social Democratic Workers' Party, a mix of former independence leaders and communist party apparatchiks who have questioned Latvia's single-minded pursuit of EU membership, is expected to make large gains in the election. The Social Democrats have wide appeal among rural voters and a recent opinion poll named it the most popular party in the country. Even in the relatively prosperous capital many voters leaving the polls Sunday voiced support for the Social Democrats and other left-wing parties that have criticized the current centre-right governing coalition's fast-paced economic reforms. "Agriculture is in a very bad situation in our country and it's time the government considers the farmers and not the rich people," said Mara Munkevica, a retired nurse who voted for the Social Democrats. But the centre-right parties that have governed Latvia since 1992 and which also control the national parliament are expected to retain control in the country's key city councils, including in Riga. Those parties have supported strong economic reforms, including the privatisation of key state-owned industries, and have lobbied for EU membership as soon as possible. "Anything else is a step backward," said Janis Verdinsh, 33, who voted for one of the ruling parties, Latvia's Way. Analysts expect the municipal elections to influence the outcome of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2002. The election commission spokeswoman said a 60 percent turnout would be slightly higher than in the two other municipal elections held since the country won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Voting at one Riga polling station was briefly disturbed when two ethnic Russian youths handcuffed themselves to a fence and demanded voting rights for the country's largely disenfranchised Russian-speaking minority. Over one quarter of the country's population of 2.4 million people has yet to pass Latvian language and history exams to become naturalized citizens. |