BELGRADE (Serbia), April 21 (SeeNews) – Three days ahead of the early general elections in Serbia, the ruling coalition led by the conservative SNS party of prime minister Aleksandar Vucic is backed by between 36% and 51% of voters, comfortably ahead of the pack, latest public opinion surveys indicated.
A survey conducted by polling agency Factor Plus, quoted by daily Telegraf.rs on Thursday, showed that the ruling coalition enjoys 50.9% support versus 12.3% for the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) led by former prime minister Ivica Dacic and 7.9% for the radical SRS party of Vojislav Seselj.
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.
Serbia's coalition government comprises the Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, the left-wing Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and Socialdemocratic Party of Serbia (SDP Srbije) and other minor parties.
According to the Factor Plus survey, about 55% of eligible voters will go to the polls on Sunday. As many as 19% have decided to boycott the election, while 26% have still not made up their mind whether to vote or not.
Another survey, conducted by the Pro Positive agency and quoted by website Electrograph.com, gives the incumbents 50.6% support, as compared to 11.4% for the SPS and 8.2% for SRS.
However on Wednesday, Zoran Zivkovic, former prime minister and founder of the liberal democratic party Nova Stranka, posted in Twitter the results of a poll conducted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, according to which the ruling coalition is supported by only 36.4% of voters.
The OSCE poll, conducted between April 8 and 15, shows 13.2% support for SPS-led coalition and 11.8% for the Democratic Party, DS, founded by assassinated prime minister Zoran Djindjic. It too projects that six formations will enter parliament, with a seventh one on the verge.
The early elections were called by president Tomislav Nikolic at the proposal of Vucic, who has said the move would help unblock reforms and to 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.