President Slobodan Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party said Monday it had won enough seats to control Serbia's new parliament, but opposition groups disputed that.
By either side's count, it appeared the Socialists won the most seats of any single party in the 250-seat legislature and added to its previous bloc of 101 deputies.Milosevic was not facing re-election but sought to strengthen his hold on power in Yugoslavia's dominant republic with a strong showing in the parliamentary elections Sunday.
It was unclear whether the fractured opposition of democratic parties and extreme nationalists, united only by their distaste for Milosevic, could form an effective alliance.
"The Socialist Party of Serbia has achieved an overwhelming victory," party spokesman Ivica Dacic told reporters. "We will either have an absolute or relative majority."
Based on the party's count of more than 54 percent of the vote, Dacic said Socialists expected to end up with 124 to 128 seats in parliament.
"No party will be able to form a government alone," countered Zoran Djindjic, a leader of the opposition Democratic Party.
Official, complete results were not expected until Wednesday.