Overview: The race

Milosevic comes to official bridge opening in Novi Sad

By Belgrade correspondent Jacky Rowland

Defeat is not an option for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic as he tries to secure another four years in power.

As an indicted international war criminal, the election is not just about staying in power: It's a question of his survival.

The poor queue up for food rations

However, many ordinary people are judging Mr Milosevic harshly after 10 years of economic hardship and conflict in the Balkans.

Having seen their living standards decline steadily, many are desperate for change, starting at the top.

Strongman image

Mr Milosevic's re-election campaign has been based on maintaining Yugoslav independence and resisting pressure from the West.

President Milosevic will be president for the next four years

Ljubisa Ristic

His party managers have tried to associate him with symbols of economic development and reconstruction after the Nato bombing last year.

"President Milosevic will be president for the next four years, and we will be able to continue the reconstruction of the country," said Ljubisa Ristic, senior official of the ruling Left coalition.

Party officials have concentrated on public institutions and state-run companies, where many workers turned out in support of Mr Milosevic because they were afraid of losing their jobs otherwise.

The Yugoslav army has been co-opted for Milosevic cause

The ruling parties say they have collected more than 1.5 million signatures endorsing Mr Milosevic. But many of these names were collected in ministries and the civil service, where people felt they had no choice but to sign.

The Yugoslav army has also been dragged into the election campaign on Mr Milosevic's side.

Troops - said to have been specially trained to go back to Kosovo - have been on parade, more than a year after Nato forced the Yugoslav army out.

Opposition unites

However, opposition parties in Yugoslavia have stepped up their campaign to remove Mr Milosevic from power.

Opposition candidate Kostunica (centre) rallies support

Eighteen parties have united behind a single candidate for the presidency, Vojislav Kostunica. Although he's a relative unknown on the international scene, he enjoys wide support at home.

And the opposition has some reason for optimism: Opinion polls have consistently put Mr Kostunica ahead of his powerful rival.

People see Mr Kostunica as an honest man, who hasn't done deals with President Milosevic.

"[Polls] suggest that Kostunica will win these elections and probably in the first round. He has about 35% of the electorate and Milosevic has about 25 to 28%," said opinion pollster Srbobran Brankovic.

The hitch

However, the opposition vote risks being split by another presidential candidate - Vojislav Mihajlovic.

Student protest: "He's finished" runs the slogan

The rest of the opposition accuses him of sabotage. But he says he's the real opposition candidate.

"I belong to the largest and most powerful opposition party. We have the right to choose our own presidential candidate. The other opposition parties have nominated a different candidate - and we have no problem with that," said Mr Mihajlovic.

But it is Vojislav Kostunica who has captured the public mood. With his low-budget election campaign, he's presenting himself as the candidate of ordinary people.

The things that matter to them, he says, matter to him too.

Conceding defeat

But even if the people were to vote for Vojislav Kostunica, will President Milosevic concede defeat?

"There is an endless number of ways to cheat in the elections, particularly when you control all the elements of the electoral procedure," said political analyst Bratislav Grubacic.

Mr Milosevic's supporters seem to have no doubt about the outcome.

" I don't have any reason to doubt that Milosevic is going to win," said Miodrag Popovic, Serbian deputy minister of information.