March 4 (SeeNews) - Serbia will hold a rerun of Belgrade's election following the local and parliamentary polls held last December, amid allegations of vote fraud, outgoing Belgrade mayor Aleksandar Sapic said.
"We have decided to go for new elections in Belgrade," Sapic told a news conference on Sunday.
The right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won the December 17 election. However, the main opposition alliance, Serbia Against Violence, has insisted that the local and parliamentary votes, held simultaneously, were tainted by widespread irregularities. The dispute has sparked significant street protests.
Sapic, who is a member of the ruling SNS party of president Aleksandar Vucic and prime minister Ana Brnabic, made the announcement on March 3 when the deadline to form Belgrade's new assembly following the December vote expired.
It was not clear when the new vote would be held.
Local broadcaster Tanjug citied Sapic as saying on Monday he expects the Belgrade elections will be called in the coming seven-eight days once the new parliament speaker of Serbia's new assembly is elected.
"I would like the elections to take place on April 28, as soon as possible," Sapic said, as quoted by Tanjug. He noted he is going to run for reelection.
Following the December vote, the European Union said Serbia's electoral process requires tangible improvement, after a team of international observers pointed to a series of irregularities, such as "vote buying" and "ballot box stuffing”.