Serbians failed for the third time in a year yesterday to elect a president because of low voter turnout, triggering a political crisis in the Balkan republic

An ultranationalist with close ties to Slobodan Milosevic led the ballot, underlining Serbians' discontent with the pro-Western government that ousted the dictator in 2000 and the republic's drift back to Milosevic's nationalism, which triggered the Balkan wars in the 1990s. About 39 per cent of registered voters cast ballots, exit polls showed, less than the 50 per cent needed to validate the vote, said the independent Centre for Free Elections and Democracy. Tomislav Nikolic was ahead with 46.5 per cent of vote, the unofficial results showed. Dragoljub Micunovic, a pro-democracy candidate who led pre-election polls, trailed with only 35 per cent. Four other candidates shared the rest of the vote. Official results were expected today, but the centre's results have proved reliable in the past. The failed election left Serbia in a power vacuum. Parliament was dissolved last week because the pro-Western government lost parliamentary support, leaving no one to call a presidential new vote. New general elections were set for Dec. 28. Serbia's Vice-Prime Minister Zarko Korac described the election results as a "tragedy for Serbia.''