ELGRADE-President Aleksandar Vucic declared victory in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday, after pollsters projected his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was on track to easily win. Based on votes counted in a sample of polling stations, pollsters Ipsos and CeSID predicted the populist SNS won 46.2% of votes, while the opposition center-left Serbia Against Violence (SPN) alliance is set to come second with 23.2%.
“This is an absolute victory and it makes me happy,” Vucic said after projections were made. The Socialist Party of Serbia of outgoing foreign minister Ivica Dacic was seen coming in third with 6.7% of the vote.
The parliamentary election, the fifth since 2012, coincides with local elections in most municipalities, the capital Belgrade and the northern province of Vojvodina. The pollsters also said that SNS won the most votes in Belgrade with 38.6% of the vote for city council and mayor, while the opposition SPN came second with 35% of the vote.
With its population of 1.4 million people, Belgrade represents about a quarter of Serbia’s electorate, and its mayor is seen as one of the most influential officials in Serbia.
CeSID and IPSOS reported a number of irregularities including organised arrivals of voters at polling stations, photographing of ballots, and procedural errors. Serbia Against Violence accused the ruling party of election fraud and said it would complain to the state election commission. “We have witnessed a serious attempt to steal elections,” Miroslav Aleksic, one of its leaders, said on Sunday evening.__The Nation
