President's son elected as mayor of Kragujevac

President's son elected as mayor of Kragujevac

KRAGUJEVAC -- Radomir Nikolić, the son of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, was on Tuesday elected as mayor of his hometown of Kragujevac in central Serbia.

The city assembly met in an urgent session to vote 49 against 50. Councilors from the Together for Šumadija, whose leader, Veroljub Stevanović was ousted as mayor, and those from the Democratic Party (DS) did not vote.

Nikolić previously was previously the head of the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) councilor group in the Kragujevac assembly.

Earlier in the day, the SNS managed to put together a coalition and vote the Kragujevac assembly president Saša Milenić out of office. Milenić's deputy from the Serb Renewal Movement (SPO) Milan Urošević first resigned, and was then elected as new assembly president.

The new assembly majority in Kragujevac is now made up of the SNS, the Socialists (SPS), the DSS, the SPO, and Movement for Our City - Nebojša Zdravković.

Speaking during a debate that led to the vote that elected Nikolić as mayor, Veroljub Stefanović accused the Progressives of seizing power in the town, "having done everything they could have to block it."

"Gentlemen, what you are doing has painted a clear picture of the Serbian reality. It is quarantine, threats, blackmail. It is what the prime minister said the other day - 'you can't but the will of the citizens.' You are just buying it, and that is Serbia," Stevanović said.

Addressing reporters and councilors after he was elected, Nikolić said Kragujevac has been in a difficult situation for the past 20 years and that he intended to manage the town with his team, which he "plans to increase."

Nikolić at...