Elections in Serbia:
Radicals lead, followed by Democrats
The Serbian Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has published its unofficial results.
The preliminary results are based on the 15.5 percent of total votes cast in today’s parliamentary election.
According to RIK, the Serb Radical Party (SRS) has won 27.06 percent of votes, the Democratic Party (DS) 22.59 percent, Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS-NS) 16.5 percent, G17 plus 7.12 percent, LDP-SDU-GSS-LSV 5.47 percent, Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) 3.57 percent.
Cesid's latest preliminary results translated into the number of seats in the new parliament read as follows:
- Serb Radical Party (SRS) - 81 seats (28.7 percent)
- Democratic Party (DS) - 65 seats (22.9 percent)
- Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS-NS) - 47 seats (16.7)
- G17 - 19 seats (6.8 percent)
- Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) - 16 seats (5.9 percent)
- Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) - 15 seats (5.3 percent)
- Union of Vojvodina Hungarians - 3 seats
- Party of Democratic Action (DSA) - 2 seats
- Serbian Roma Alliance - 1 seat
- Roma Party - Roma 1 seat
Earlier, Cesid projected the final turnout figure to be 60.3 percent of eligible voters.
Radicals win 100,000 votes more than in 2003
Cesid’s preliminary results show that the Serb Radical Party (SRS) has today won 100, 000 more votes, compared to its performance in the 2003 elections, when the Radicals won 1,056,000 votes.
The Democrats (DS) managed to win 480,000 votes in 2003, while this election showed their result soar to around 920,000.
The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), this time around in coalition with New Serbia (NS) has won approximately the same number of votes as four years ago– around 680,000.
G17 Plus slipped from 423,000 in 2003 to 275,000 in today’s parliamentary election.
Kosovo vote goes smoothly with KFOR presence
Polling stations in the majority Serb regions of Kosovo opened this morning and the voters aren’t encountering any problems so far, local electoral committees have said.
“There are several police and KFOR vehicles in downtown Orahovac. They say they are not there to secure the elections, but they are still there. I believe citizens will turn out in greater numbers in the afternoon”, Orahovac electoral committee coordinator Dejan Baljosevic told journalists.
Cesid: Minor irregularities
Cesid’s Marko Blagojevic says that the irregularities recorded in the polling stations by 2 p.m. this afternoon weren’t numerous and aren’t of a nature that could jeopardize the election’s regularity.
Blagojevic explained that beside several cases of voting without ID and one polling station where the committee president banned party representatives from participating in the committee’s activities, saying he was “the boss”, the most serious irregularity occurred in Gadzin Han, southern Serbia, where a non-accredited twin replaced his brother, the committee president.
Sandzak and Presevo Valley also report only minor irregularities.
NEW PARLIAMENT MUST CONVENE BY FEBRUARY 25
Final results must be published by January 25, new parliament will then convene within 30 days at the latest.
The Republic Electoral Commission is obligated to publish the final, official results of the parliamentary elections by January 25, after which activities related to the forming of a new parliament and a new cabinet will start.
The first session of the new parliament must be held 30 days after the final results have been published at the latest.
Thus the deadline for the new lawmakers’ mandates to be verified will be February 25.
The parliament will be dissolved unless the parties agree on a new government within 90 days, starting February 25. In that case, the president of the republic will call new elections.
The next prime minister will be given a mandate to form a new cabinet by the president, after consultations with electoral lists’ representatives.
The new prime minister and his cabinet will need to secure 126 out of 250 votes in the new parliament in order to be elected. |
