BELGRADE: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will not be on the ballot in Sunday’s parliamentary and local polls, but the contest is nevertheless a referendum on his government amid soaring inflation and months of demonstrations.
After more than a decade in power, Aleksandar Vucic’s right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party looks likely to extend its rule, according to polls, despite hard-fought municipal races in the capital city Belgrade.
Serbians have been battered by rising prices, with inflation hitting roughly 12%, AFP reported.
Vucic told supporters at a campaign rally last week that the situation in the country is not ideal. I know your life is hard, that you have problems.
To blunt the hard edges of inflation ahead of vote, he unleashed a torrent of state spending – hiking pensions and handing out cash to the elderly.
The policies appear to be paying off, with the his party forecast to secure at least 40% of the vote, which would pave the way for victory for Vucic and his allies.
Vucic’s party faces the toughest challenge from a loose coalition of opposition parties and politicians running under the “Serbia Against Violence” banner.
The movement was formed in the wake of back-to-back mass shootings earlier this year that caused hundreds of thousands to protest. The rallies quickly morphed into anti-government demonstrations that lasted months.
According to Vladimir Pejic of the Faktor Plus polling institute, more voters are undecided before Sunday’s elections than in the past.
Pejic said that we have for the first time after a series of polls cycles another larger political force apart from SNS — Serbia Against Violence.
But even Vucic’s staunchest opponents are not sure of any sweeping change.
Strongman president is everywhere in Serbia
While Vucic is not on the ballot, the strongman remains everywhere in the run-up to the elections– plastered on skyscrapers and billboards and the focus of wall-to-wall coverage on news channels.
In a footage shared on social media that quickly went viral, Vucic and some of his ministers were seen enjoying a 585-dinar (5.40 dollars) feast of sausage meat, bread, and yoghurt highlighting their efforts to keep prices low.
The video was widely criticized by his opponents as a cheap publicity stunt.
