BELGRADE (Serbia), May 23 (SeeNews) – Serbia's president Tomislav Nikolic handed the head of the conservative SNS party, Aleksandar Vucic, a mandate to form a government following early general elections last month, the government said on Monday.
Vucic, who forced early elections with the aim to secure broader public support for overdue reforms, garnered 48.25% of the votes on April 24, giving him 131 MPs in the 250-seat parliament. He, however, will control 27 seats less than he used to have in the previous parliament.
Vucic received a mandate for a new cabinet after assuring the president that he holds a majority in parliament, the government said in a statement.
Seven political formations crossed the 5% threshold for entry into parliament, including the far right Dveri-DSS coalition and the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) of Vojislav Seselj, who recently faced trial in The Hague for war crimes in former Yugoslavia.
The Serbian Socialist Party (SPS), led by deputy prime minister Ivica Dacic, and its partner United Serbia, will have 29 seats in parliament. They are followed by the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) of Vojislav Seselj with 22 representatives.
The Democratic Party and the Enough movement will have 16 seats each, three more than the far right Dveri-DSS coalition.
Four other political formations of ethnic minorities for which the 5% entry threshold does not apply will have 9 seats and the Green Party will have one MP.