Serbs in Kosovo vote in snap election expected to cement grip on power of ruling populists
(16 Mar 2014) Serbs in Kosovo cast their ballots in a snap election on Sunday expected to cement the grip on power of the ruling populists, who are promising to carry out reform and root out corruption, but who have faced accusations of stifling dissent in the impoverished Balkan nation seeking EU membership. The vote in Kosovo is being supervised by the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe). Ethnic Albanians object to the vote, but have reluctantly allowed it to take place. Pristina's authorities have no access to the north of Kosovo where most of the Serb minority lives. Analysts say the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its leader Aleksandar Vucic could gain absolute majority in the 250-member parliament. Pre-election polls have suggested the party will win at least 40 per cent of the ballots, facing virtually no challenge from the divided liberal opposition. Vucic, a former hardline nationalist ally of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, has served as deputy prime minister in the outgoing coalition government, despite his party's overwhelming popularity. He is widely expected to become the next prime minister after the election. Trailing in the polls are the Socialists, whose leader Ivica Dacic is the current prime minister. The country's main opposition party, centre-left Democratic Party is expected to gain about 13 per cent of the votes. The party has been split after former president Boris Tadic formed his own New Democratic Party. Also running are the Liberal Democrats and the hardline conservative Democratic Party of Serbia, the only group opposing to Serbia's EU bid. Serbia this year opened membership talks with the bloc after it signed an agreement normalising ties with the former province of Kosovo, which split it 2008, but whose independence Serbia's refuses to recognise. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
