Exit polls show sweeping victory for Vucic’s SNS in Serbian general election

Exit polls show sweeping victory for Vucic’s SNS in Serbian general election
/ SNS
By bne IntelliNews June 21, 2020

President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has taken an easy victory in the June 21 general election with more than 60% of votes cast, exit polls from CESID and Ipsos showed a few hours after polling stations closed.

The party ran a campaign centred on the president (with the slogan “Aleksandar Vucic – For Our Children"), and capitalised on the increase in support for Vucic during the lockdown imposed after the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in mid-March. 

The SNS also benefitted from the failure of the diverse field of opposition parties and coalitions — some of which boycotted the vote — to come together to make a credible challenge to the ruling party. 

According to the exit polls, the SNS will win 62.5% of the votes, which would give the party 198 of the 250 seats in the new parliament — up from 131 in the current parliament. 

The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), led by Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, the junior coalition partner of the government led by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, looks to have taken 10.7% of the votes, around the same share as in the last general election in 2016. 

Political scientist Jasmin Mujanovic wrote on Twitter that “the only real outstanding question in Serbia now [is] whether Vucic will continue to feign coalition politics w/ Dacic or whether he will pull the trigger on fully consolidating all rule under the SNS. He may choose to keep Dacic just for the optics.”

Out of the 21 parties and coalitions that stood in the election, the exit polls indicated that only one has clearly passed the 3% threshold to enter parliament, the party led by former water polo player Aleksandar Sapic, though others may have scraped through. 

Four opposition parties and coalitions — the Alliance for Serbia, the Social Democratic Party (SDS), the Together for Serbia (ZZS) party and the reformist Civic Platform — decided to boycott the vote, claiming the election will be unfair. Despite this, according to SNS data, the turnout was slightly above 50%, similar to the level in previous general elections. 

“Biggest loser of the election in Serbia tonight, SNS. The progressives appear to have won 60%+ and a 2/3 majority in parliament, but it is a pyrrhic victory without opposition in parliament the election is discredited and its rule less legitimate than ever before,” tweeted political scientist and historian Florian Bieber. 

The election was supposed to be held in the spring but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Vucic hurried to set a new date the day the government announced it will end the state of emergency in early May.

Several opposition parties objected to the timing and demanded a further delay, claiming they need time to organise proper campaigns after the nearly two-month lockdown.

However, Vucic has refused and said the date was set after consultations with those opposition parties that said they would participate in the race and that the country had enough time for campaigning.

 

News

Dismiss