Page 11 - bne_newspaper_March_31_2017

Southeast Europe
March 31, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Attention turns to Serbia’s next PM as Vucic cruises towards presidency
bne IntelliNews
After an intense, and often offensive, loud and dirty campaign, voters in Serbia don’t expect the April 2 presidential elections to bring any change to their lives. The only change they are anticipat- ing is for current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic – who already dominates the country’s political life – to move to the presidency.
According to the latest polls, the candidate of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has a good chance of winning in the first round, since over 50% of those who plan to vote are expected to back him.
With the opposition divided, both other serious can- didates have been overtaken in the polls by 26-year- old satirist Luka Maksimovic, aka Ljubisa Preletace- vic or “Beli”. If the election goes to the second round, there is a good chance he would be the one to face off against Vucic. Even so, many Serbians are wary of casting their votes for the spoof candidate.
Demostat's latest poll shows that Vucic has the support of 56.2% of respondents who have decid- ed who to vote for. In second place is Beli (9.5%), followed by Jeremic (9.3%), Jankovic (8.9%), and ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj (8.8%).
Vucic has been the main political figure in the country since 2012, when his partner and SNS co- founder Tomislav Nikolic became president. Since then there have been two rounds of early parlia- mentary elections, with Vucic increasingly eclips- ing Nikolic. The secret to his success appears to be his almost permanent campaigning in succes- sive elections, to the extent that he is now viewed as the only person in his party able to win.
"Vucic benefits from his populist rhetoric and an image of a strong-handed leader able to success- fully maneuver Serbia’s interests between Russia and the West," writes Andrius Tursa of Teneo Intel- ligence in an analyst note. "He has also managed to secure undivided backing from the ruling SNS, the current President Tomislav Nikolic, as well as eight other political parties. At the same time, the oppo- sition has failed to unite behind a single candidate."
Despite concerns that a fresh five-year mandate for Vucic could push the country towards authori- tarian rule and a serious crisis of democracy, many ordinary citizens still believe he is the only one who could and should take on the tough job of president of the republic, especially at a time of rising tensions throughout the region.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic’s visit to Moscow just days before Serbia’s April 2 presiden- tial election has raised suspicions that he made the trip to consult with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the composition of the next government. The tim- ing of his visit to Moscow has led to speculation that Putin could be putting pressure on Vucic to pick So- cialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic as his replacement.
This was denied by Russian presidential spokes- man Dmitry Peskov, who said on March 27 that the Kremlin has no intention of interfering in the upcoming election, Tass reported.
However, there are already rumours of growing Russian influence in Serbia and – to an extent – on the Serbian government, even though Vucic’s