Aleksandar Vučić won the Serbian presidential elections on Sunday with 59.8 percent of the vote, Ipsos and Cesid pollsters reported.
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Mr Vučić has already announced his victory in the elections. “I am pleased that a huge number of people voted and showed the democratic nature of Serbian society. There was no suspense at any time,” he said following the election night.
His main contender retired general Zdravko Ponoš bagged 17.4 percent of the votes.
The victorious runner said that during his second tenure he would pursue Serbia’s EU accession whilst maintaining good relations with neighbouring countries. He also opposed “the destruction of relations with traditional friends” of Serbia. Although he did not name Russia or China, it is commonly believed that he was alluding to those countries.
The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic were significant themes for the elections. Having aptly tapped into both of them, Mr Vučić has seemingly managed to garner sufficient support.
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Results of the parliamentary snap election are out
Regardless of rights groups and political opponents’ accusations of authoritarian tendencies and stifling independent media, Mr Vučić managed to secure a reelection. His contenders and opponents also accused him of calling regular, timely snap elections to confound the opposition.
One such snap parliamentary election concluded, along with the presidential one, on Sunday, when the centre-right Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) claimed victory with 43.6-percent support.
The United Serbia opposition party got 12.8 percent, the Socialist Party of Serbia were third with 11.6 percent.
According to the Serbian citizens’ rights organisation CRTA, the electoral turnout an hour before the closing of polling stations amounted to 55.1 percent.
The Initial official results of the Sunday elections, both presidential and parliamentary, are to be announced on Monday evening.