October 31 (SeeNews) - Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic said the ruling conservative Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is contemplating parliamentary elections early next year in a bid to further strengthen its power.
The party is considering holding a parliamentary vote together with the local elections in Serbia's capital Belgrade in February or March, Vucic said late on Monday during an interview with private broadcaster Pink TV.
There are some serious arguments in favour of an early vote, as one is that the parliamentary, presidential and local elections would be held simultaneously in 2022, Vucic, who is also a president of SNS, said.
"Therefore, we will have four years to prepare for the country's entry in the European Union (EU)," Vucic noted.
SNS still does not have a candidate for the local elections in Belgrade, but there are three options - Dragan Djilas, Dragan Sutanovac and Aleksandar Sapic, and all of them are sure winners, Vucic said.
Vucic won an outright victory in the presidential elections in April with 55.08% of the vote cast, sufficient to avoid a run-off. He then gave a mandate for the formation of a government to Ana Brnabic, a minister of public administration and local self-government at the time.
Vucic has called early elections twice already - in 2016 and 2015 - seeking broader public support to push through reforms and prepare the country for EU membership, and winning both times.