Serbia Votes for Parliament, Municipalities in Tense Elections (Worthy News Radio)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BELGRADE/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Serbs began voting in parliamentary and local elections that will test the strength of the country’s governing party after several protests.
The Sunday ballot comes amid unrest over high inflation, corruption, and gun violence.
Serbs queued for Sunday’s snap elections, including in polling stations with Christmas decorations. The voting determines a new government for Serbia’s 250-seat parliament and elects local councils in most municipalities.
President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, or SPS, was ahead by double-digits in the latest opinion polls and widely expected to retain its rule in parliament.
Yet a centrist coalition is trying to undermine the populists who have ruled the troubled Balkan state since 2012. The Serbia Against Violence opposition list is due to mount the biggest challenge for the city council in Belgrade, the capital.
Analysts say an opposition victory in the capital would seriously undermine Vucic’s perceived hard-line rule in the country.
Several right-wing groups, including pro-Russian parties and Socialists, allied with Vucic, are also running for control of the parliament and local councils in some 60 cities, towns, and regional authorities in the northern Vojvodina province.
CONSOLIDATING POWER
Vucic called Sunday’s early vote only a year and a half after a previous parliamentary and presidential election, despite his party holding a comfortable majority in the parliament.
Commentators claim Vucic wants to consolidate power after two back-to-back shootings triggered months of anti-government protests. He also faces public anger over high inflation and rampant corruption.
Additionally, Vucic came under criticism over his handling of a crisis in Kosovo, the former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, a move Belgrade does not recognize.
His supporters view Vucic as the only leader who can maintain stability and lead the country into a better future.
That future, many Serbs hope, will one day include European Union membership.
However, tensions with Kosovo and concerns over Vucic’s perceived autocratic style and pro-Russia policies have undermined these prospects.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
China is preparing to evacuate 400,000 people as Super Typhoon Ragasa barrels toward its southeastern coast, after slamming the Philippines and Taiwan with destructive winds, torrential rains, and life-threatening storm surges.
The row over Bagram Air Base has escalated sharply, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning of “bad things” if the site is not returned to American control and Taliban leaders vowing to resist any attempt to reclaim it.
Three Russian military jets violated NATO military alliance member Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes on Friday in an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion, its government said, prompting Italian F-35 stealth fighters to respond.
he United Nations Security Council is facing sharp criticism after scheduling a meeting on the Gaza war for Tuesday afternoon–directly overlapping with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced new global health regulations that critics warn will lead to more global surveillance.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump took on the role of consoler-in-chief Sunday as he honored slain Christian conservative activist Charlie Kirk before tens of thousands gathered at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Police in Pakistan have launched an investigation into a “brutal and cowardly” assassination attempt on a prominent Pentecostal pastor in Islamabad, the capital, at a time of rising persecution of Christians in the Muslim-majority nation, sources told Worthy News on Monday.