Parliamentary elections are being held today in Serbia, where 6.5 million voters are called to turn out at 8,273 polling stations to elect 250 deputies, who make up the country’s parliament. Elections are also being held for the local parliament in the province of Vojvodina, as well as for self-government in 65 municipalities, including Belgrade.

The polls opened at 7:00 in the morning and will close at 8:00 in the evening.

The election process is monitored by 5110 NGO observers from Serbia and 477 foreign observers from the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the EU, the European Parliament, embassies and NGOs from abroad.

18 parties and political combinations are vying for the citizens’ vote for the Serbian parliament.

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has been in power since 2012, is considered the favorite to win. The president of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, although he is not – as of May 2023 – the president of the SNS, nor a candidate, he was put in charge of his pre-election campaign. campaign. In the list of candidates, the Serbian Progressive Party appears under the name “Aleksandar Vucic – Serbia must not be stopped”.

The absolute dominance of the Serbian Progressive Party and Aleksandar Vucic can be threatened by the bloc of pro-European parties that are going to the elections with the combination “Serbia against violence”. These parties came together after the two mass murders that occurred in early May in a primary school in Belgrade and in two villages near the capital.

According to opinion polls, the new parliament will also include the Socialist Party (SPS) of Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, which has co-ruled with Vucic’s party since 2012.

The “National Rally” and “Hope” coalitions of nationalist pro-Russian parties are also expected to be represented in the Serbian parliament.

In the local government elections, the opposition has a high chance of winning the municipality of Belgrade. The assumption of power, however, will depend on the processes that will follow the elections. The opposition parties also prevailed in the previous election but were unable to elect a mayor after some of their councilors rejected and supported the candidate of the Serbian Progressive Party.

For the parliamentary elections in Serbia, the Kosovo Serbs also have the right to vote, and they will be able to vote in cities in central Serbia, since the government of Albin Kurti did not allow polls to be opened in Kosovo.