(ANSA-AFP) - BELGRADE, DEC 15 - Serbian President Aleksandar
Vucic will not be on the ballot in Sunday's parliamentary and
local elections, but the contest is nevertheless a referendum on
his government amid soaring inflation and months of protests.
After more than a decade in power, Vucic's right-wing populist
Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) looks likely to extend its rule,
according to polls, despite hard-fought municipal races in the
capital Belgrade. Serbians have been battered by rising prices,
with inflation hitting roughly 12 percent. "The situation in the
country is not ideal... I know your life is hard, that you have
problems," Vucic told supporters at a campaign rally last week.
To blunt the hard edges of inflation ahead of elections, he
unleashed a torrent of state spending -- boosting pensions and
handing out cash to the elderly. The policies appear to be
paying off, with the SNS forecast to secure at least 40 percent
of the vote, which would pave the way for victory for Vucic and
his allies. Vucic's SNS faces the toughest competition from a
loose coalition of opposition parties and candidates running
under the "Serbia Against Violence" banner. The movement was
formed in the wake of back-to-back mass shootings earlier this
year that spurred hundreds of thousands to take to the streets.
The rallies quickly morphed into anti-government protests that
lasted months. According to Vladimir Pejic of the Faktor Plus
polling institute, more voters are undecided before Sunday's
poll than in the past. "We have for the first time after a
series of election cycles another larger political force apart
from SNS -- Serbia Against Violence," Pejic told the Danas
newspaper. (ANSA-AFP).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
