Serbia to hold election as it eases emergency measures

Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic. /AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

Serbia's president has set 21 June as the date of a parliamentary election which had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The vote was originally scheduled for 26 April but was put on hold after a nationwide state of emergency was proclaimed in mid-March.

Incumbent president Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday: "After these difficult times, we have to create a democratic atmosphere and select an assembly and government that will serve in the interest of the people."

The president announced the emergency measures will be lifted later this week as the rate of coronavirus infections has sufficiently decreased.

Vucic, like the leaders of other Balkan states with elections due, is expected to favor an earlier vote to benefit from some of the popular measures he's introduced during the crisis. A stimulus cheque of 100 euros ($108) for every citizen is due to be paid after the crisis ends.

The incumbent was already the overwhelming favourite, after the opposition group the Alliance for Serbia decided to boycott the vote, citing the president's firm control over the media and electoral process.

Vucic's right-wing Serbian Progressive party is expected to continue its eight years of dominance of the country's political scene.

Serbia has recorded more than 9,500 coronavirus cases and 197 deaths.

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Source(s): AP