BELGRADE (Serbia), April 22 (SeeNews) – Serbia will hold on Sunday early parliamentary elections, largely expected to cement the leadership of prime minister Aleksandar Vucic and his conservative SNS party.
President Tomislav Nikolic dissolved parliament last month at the proposal of Vucic, who has said the move would help Serbia unblock reforms and prepare for EU membership.
Analysts have commented that with the move Vucic is trying to capitalise on his high popularity, which exceeds that of his conservative SNS party and his coalition partners.
Two years ago Vucic again forced early elections, seeking broader public support to push through overdue reforms.
The SNS and its partners secured 158 seats in the 250-seat parliament in the elections held in March 2015. The Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) and its partners won a total of 44 seats.
Following the elections, a coalition government comprising SNS, SPS, the Socialdemocratic Party of Serbia (SDP Srbije) and other minor parties was formed.
Latest public opinion surveys put voter support for the SNS at between 36% and 51%, comfortably ahead of the other political parties.
Polls also show anti-European and pro-Russian parties will most probably enter parliament, putting at test the country's progress towards EU accession. The EU formally opened accession talks with Serbia in January 2014.
A survey conducted by polling agency Faktor Plus, quoted by daily Telegraf.rs on Thursday, showed that the ruling coalition enjoys 50.9% support versus 12.3% for its coalition partner the SPS and 7.9% for the radical SRS party of Vojislav Seselj, who recently faced trial in The Hague for war crimes in former Yugoslavia.
The political roots of Vucic himself go back to the SPS of late dictator Slobodan Milosevic, now member of the ruling coalition and the second biggest party in the country.
Another three formations, including the Democratic Party and the coalition of the far-right pro-Russian Democratic Party of Serbia and the Dveri movement, are likely to pass the 5% threshold for entry into parliament, and a fourth one is very close to clearing the barrier, according to the survey.
A total of 6.7 million people are eligible to cast a vote on Sunday, according to official data.
Following are key facts about the Serbian political system:
Serbia has a proportional representation voting system, i.e. the number of seats won by a party or coalition is proportionate to the number of votes received in the elections. Voters vote for a list of candidates, with the party choosing the order of candidates on the list and thus, in effect, their probability of being elected.
Each list can include no more than 250 candidates, equal to the number of seats at the parliament.
Serbian MPs are elected for a four-year term.
Candidate lists need to observe a minimum gender quota of 33%, with at least every third candidate being from the less represented gender.
To secure representation, a list needs to pass the 5.0% threshold of all valid ballots cast. However, this threshold does not apply to ethnic minority lists.
On the day of the election, polling stations open at 7000 a.m., and close at 8000 p.m.
The Republic Electoral Commission announces the results of the election within ninety-six hours from the completion of the voting.