‘Endlessly happy’: Serbia’s Vucic claims re-election victory

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has declared victory in Sunday’s presidential election, after pollsters Ipsos and CeSID predicted that the incumbent leader would win 59.8 percent of the votes.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gestures during a news conference after claiming a second term in the presidential election in Belgrade, Serbia

Zdravko Ponos, a retired army general representing the pro-European and centrist Alliance for Victory coalition, was projected to come second with 17.1 percent of the votes.

In a victory speech, Vucic said he was proud to win a second outright mandate without going into a runoff.

“A huge thank you to the citizens of Serbia,” he said. “I am endlessly proud and endlessly happy.”

The pollsters also projected that Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) would win the most votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election, with about 43 percent, followed by the United for Victory of Serbia opposition group with about 13 percent.

The Socialist Party of Serbia, a longtime ally of the SNS, is seen third with 11.6 percent of the votes.

The Nada (Hope) right-wing coalition and Moramo (We Must), an alliance of green movements and parties, garnered about 5.4 percent and 4.3 percent of votes respectively.

As the SNS would likely fail to secure enough of the 250-seat parliament to rule alone, it will have to seek coalition partners.

Check Out : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/4/endlessly-happy-serbias-vucic-claims-re-election-victory