Serbs elect new parliament - President Vucic's party strongly favored
The polling stations were due to close at 8 p.m. and the first results were expected in the course of the evening. According to polls, the SNS could expect between 40 and 45 percent of the vote. Vucic has used his ten years in power, first as prime minister and since 2017 as head of state, to consolidate his control over Serbia. He discredited critics and protests against him as a foreign conspiracy.
As in other European countries, the people of Serbia have been hit hard by double-digit inflation over the past two years. In recent months, Vucic's government has responded by spending money without regard for the state coffers.
In October, it increased pensions by 5.5 percent and announced a further increase for the beginning of 2024. At the end of November, it also added a bonus of 20,000 dinars (170 euros) for all pensioners - a considerable sum given an average pension of the equivalent of 320 euros per month.
The biggest competition for Vucic's party in the election is the loose opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence. The movement emerged from the mass protests following two gun attacks in the spring that left a total of 18 people dead.
On Sunday, queues formed outside some polling stations in the capital Belgrade as soon as the polling stations opened at 07:00. According to the national election authority, just under ten percent of those entitled to vote had taken part in the ballot by 11.00 a.m. - slightly more than in the previous election 18 months ago at this time.
Vucic himself told journalists after casting his vote that he expected a "landslide victory". Serbia has "a lot of work ahead of it in the coming period". Before the election, the president had repeatedly warned of chaos in the event that he was not confirmed in office.
Opposition politician Dobrica Veselinovic from the alliance Serbia Against Violence said she hoped for "a high voter turnout in Belgrade and throughout Serbia" and that "voters have the freedom to express their will".
Vucic himself had called the new parliamentary elections. Since he first took office in 2014 - when he was still prime minister - government cabinets in Serbia rarely last until the end of a legislative term - which critics see as a maneuver to obstruct the opposition.
In the last parliamentary and presidential elections in April 2022, the SNS won 120 out of 250 parliamentary seats and Vucic was confirmed in office for a second term.
In addition to the parliamentary elections, local elections were also held in several Serbian cities. Elections were held in the capital Belgrade, among other places, where a loose alliance of opposition parties ran and candidates from Serbia against Violence were given good chances.
Read also:
- This will change in December
- Attacks on ships in the Red Sea: shipping companies avoid important trade route
- German activists speak out in Dubai on suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip
- Despite UN vote: fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues
Source: www.stern.de
