Serbian president declares victory for his party in local elections

BELGRADE, Serbia

Serbia’s president on Sunday declared the victory of his Serbian Progressive Party in local elections.

"In (the capital) Belgrade, our list will have 52%, which is an incredible victory, it is an incredible victory in Novi Sad,” said Aleksandar Vucic.

The elections were called again because no list won a majority to form a government in Belgrade after a vote in December.

Serbian on Sunday held local elections for councilors of the Belgrade City Council and local authorities in another 14 cities, 51 municipalities, and 23 urban municipalities.

An earlier round did not produce a clear winner and led to opposition protests over what many critics saw as illegal election interference in the December elections.

The opposition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) and the National Democratic Alternative (NADA) accused the ruling coalition, led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), of election theft.

Authorities have repeatedly denied that there were serious electoral irregularities.

A total of 14 coalitions participated in the elections for the Belgrade City Council, as many as for the Novi Sad council, and in the city of Nis, there were 11 coalitions.

The election commission is due to publish an overall report on the election results within 96 hours from the closing of the polling stations.