Progressives Well-Placed to Take Belgrade

Belgrade goes to the polls on March 16 with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party tipped to take control of the capital while the Democratic Party seems likely to lose the city for the first time in 14 years.

A poll conducted by Faktor Plus agency in February suggested that about 42.5 per cent of voters will support the Progressives, while about 17.4 will vote for the Democrats.

The survey also predicted that only four other parties will get enough votes to enter the city assembly: the coalition led by Socialists with 8.9 per cent, the Democratic Party of Serbia with 6.8 per cent, the Liberal Democratic Party with 6.6 per cent and the New Democratic Party with 5.2 per cent.

Most parties, including the Democrats, Socialists, Progressives and the recently-formed New Democratic Party, have focused their campaigns on economic issues, promising new investments, higher employment, social benefits for pensioners and mothers and better healthcare for all.

The Democratic Party of Serbia promised to boost the prospects of small and medium-sized enterprises by opening an office that will ease their work and launch a fund for setting up new firms, while the United Regions of Serbia and the Liberal Democratic Party offered more decentralisation for the capital.

The Belgrade Electoral Commission will announce the exact number of voters on March 13; at the last elections in May 2012, about 1.5 million city-dwellers were eligible to vote.

The Commission confirmed that 23 lists, including 11 political parties and 12 ‘citizens’ groups’ will participate in the polls.

The seats in the Belgrade assembly will be awarded through a party-list proportional representation system with a five per cent threshold for all but ethnic minority...