Page 21 - bne_newspaper_March_29_2019

Opinion
March 29, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
BALKAN BLOG:
Beset by protests, Serbia's Vucic turns to the people
Clare Nuttall in Glasgow
As protests show no signs of letting up in Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic has confirmed speculation that the government led by his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will call early elections.
No date has been set yet but the SNS leadership has decided that it wants an early vote, Vucic told the media on March 25, and the country is now “closer to early elections than before.”
The decision comes after almost four months
of mass protests that have taken place every Saturday evening since December 8. Protestors have focussed on Vucic’s autocratic rule, and the stifling of the media since he came to power. Initially organised in Belgrade, the protests have spread to other parts of the country as well
as majority ethnic Serb northern Kosovo, and regularly draw tens of thousands of people.
Regular elections are to take place due in April 2020, but the political situation is worsening week by week as protestors say they are determined to continue with their protests until their demand for early elections is met.
“Elections will be held either in June or in spring next year,” Vucic said following a session of the party's presidency. “Elections will not be held in autumn, and it is certain that we are now much closer to voting than before,” the president added.
The SNS leadership has already informed Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, a loyal acolyte of the president, of its decision. Brnabic’s government
Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly resorted to snap elections to reinforce the position of his Serbian Progressive Party.
would have to resign before a date can be set for the election.
Early on in the protests, Vucic took a tough stance, saying he would not bow to protesters’ demands even if 5mn people took to the streets — a statement that inspired the protest slogan “1 in 5 million”.
But rather than bowing to protesters’ demands, Vucic appears to be employing a favourite tactic, calling a snap election, whether it is to reinforce the legitimacy of his government, extend its term in office or allow him to push through unpopular reforms. Since the start of the protests there has been speculation that Vucic would call a fresh election, fuelled by comments from the presidency.
The SNS came to power in 2012 but has never served a full and uninterrupted term, having called elections in 2014 and 2016. The first snap election allowed the SNS to improve its position vis a vis its coalition partner the Socialist Party of Serbia and Vucic to take the prime minister position from Socialist leader Ivica Dacic. In 2016, Vucic decided to affirm his support again, in what observers saw as a move intended mainly to extend its time in power at a time when its popularity was high rather than risk a tailing off in support before the next term election. The repeated elections led to widespread election fatigue in Serbia, as reported by bne IntelliNews during the vote in 2016.
Despite the popular support for the protests, polls show that Vucic’s SNS would again sweep the board in a new general election; for example