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Southeast Europe
October 27, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
Ruling party officials indicate Serbia could be heading for early elections
bne IntelliNews
Several members of the ruling Serbian Progres- sive Party (SNS) including President Aleksandar Vucic have hinted in the last few days that the country could be heading for another round of early parliamentary elections.
If a snap election is called, this would be the third early general election since 2012 when the SNS formed its first government. At this moment, the government is more than stable with comfortable support in the parliament, but upcoming regular elections in Belgrade bring uncertainty
as to whether the ruling coalition would be able to ensure a new mandate in the capital.
This has given rise to intense speculation that the SNS could be planning to call a general election to coincide with the Belgrade local election. This would put the focus on national issues rather than allowing the opposition and media to hone in on local problems in the capital and failures by the SNS-led government in Belgrade.
Recent demonstrations highlighted enduring anger over the secret midnight demolitions of parts of the Savamala district to make way for the Belgrade Waterfront development. Vucic has already announced that the highly unpopular Belgrade mayor, Sinisa Mali, will not continue in the position. He made the announcement after Mali’s ex-wife claimed that her former husband took part in the demolition. However, critics have also directed their ire at the government over the failure to bring those responsible to account.
Parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic told MPs "Elections is what they are going to get".
Serbian political history has shown that losing power in Belgrade generally leads to losing power in the whole country. As an experienced politician who had been active in Serbian politics for more than two decades, Vucic knows this very well.
Vucic himself commented on the possibility of early elections on October 23, after rumours had already been swirling for a month.
“You will get elections if you want them. But, don’t whine afterwards that ‘Saint Peter’ is guilty because you lose them,” Vucic said in a comment directed at the opposition, which has been calling for elections.
The issue was also discussed in the parliament on October 25, when parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic appeared to say that elections would take place.
“MPs who are waving in front of your eyes actually want elections. Elections is what they are going to get,” Gojkovic said on October 25, N1 reported.
This was confirmed by SNS MP Vladimir Orlic. “If you ask me for the date of early parliamentary elections, I do not have that information. But, hav- ing in mind what the parliament looks like these days and unfortunately for a longer period of time, I think there is a reason to think in that direction,” Orlic told journalists, N1 reported on October
25. However, he added that the party had not yet received instructions from Vucic to prepare for elections.