Serbian Incumbents Headed for an Election Victory : Yugoslavia: Former Communists also appear to have done well in Montenegro.

Riding high on a wave of nationalism, incumbent Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and other former Communists appeared headed for victory Sunday in elections that may have been the last chance to salvage a united Yugoslavia.

Counting bogged down as the renamed Socialist Party and opposition leaders accused each other of manipulation and voting irregularities. Partial returns were still being held back from Yugoslav media more than five hours after the polls closed.

But opposition leaders monitoring the returns independently conceded they were behind the former Communists in most parliamentary races and that Milosevic was far ahead of his rivals for the presidency.

Official returns are expected today, according to Election Commission chairman Caslav Ignjatovic.

Milosevic had to win a majority in the first round, since virtually everyone who supported opponents would continue to vote anti-Communist in any runoff.

“It seems to us that the Communists will get their 50%,” lamented Dragan Veselinov, head of the National Peasants Party.

Runoff elections in districts where no candidate receives at least 50% of the vote are slated for Dec. 23.

Veselinov said he fears that both the presidency and the 250-seat Serbian Assembly will remain under the control of the former Communists.

Vuk Draskovic and his radical nationalist Serbian Renewal Movement had been expected to give the Socialists a run for the leadership because support for the one-party system that has been in power for 50 years was considered to be waning amid economic and political crises.

But Draskovic was trailing badly, Veselinov said, and the 44-year-old challenger failed to show up at his party’s press conference.

Draskovic earlier Sunday told reporters that he would protest the election outcome if party leaders decide the reported voting violations were massive.

While some opposition figures blamed Communist control of the media and trickery at the polls for the reportedly uneven result, Veselinov said that the anti-Communists had erred in their strategy.

“The nationalists will be very disappointed that the Communists have taken so much of the vote on that issue,” he said, referring to Serbia’s ethnic conflicts with Croats and Kosovo Albanians, which are threatening to plunge the nation into civil war.

He said the opposition groups would likely join in a coalition to present a united front against the Socialists for the scheduled runoffs later this month.

Meanwhile, amid the barrage of opposition accusations that the Socialists cheated, Election Commission Chairman Ignjatovic declined to estimate voter turnout. Opposition leaders said up to 90% of Serbia’s 6.8 million eligible voters trekked to the polls in the slushy aftermath of a two-day snowfall.

A Socialist victory would not only buck Eastern Europe’s trend of throwing out communism when given the chance, but it also could hasten Yugoslavia’s collapse into rival ethnic pieces.

While Milosevic and Draskovic share the same radical views on restoring Serbian control over the rebellious province of Kosovo, the ex-Communists have taken the hardest line against two affluent northern republics threatening to secede.

The federal army, controlled by Communist Serbian generals, has warned that it would use force to prevent Slovenia and Croatia from pulling out of the federation.

Slovenes plan a referendum on secession on Dec. 23, and a Socialist victory in Serbia could be expected to fuel that drive for independence.

Elections were also held Sunday in the smallest of Yugoslavia’s six republics, Montenegro, where the former Communists were expected to easily win reelection.

Recent polls had shown Milosevic with a slight lead over Draskovic, a 44-year-old writer and ardent nationalist. Even opponents of the 49-year-old incumbent predicted he would win because of Serbian resistance to radical change and fears that a transition to capitalism advocated by Draskovic would raise unemployment, already running more than 25%.

Milosevic enjoys broad backing among fellow Serbs for the very reason other nationalities in this multi-ethnic society regard him with suspicion. He has restored national pride by reviving a sense of Serbian supremacy after 70 years of being regarded as one nation among equals under a united Yugoslavia.

Serbs are the largest ethnic group in Yugoslavia and Serbia, with 9.7 million residents, is the largest of its six republics.