Serbians to go to the polls on Sunday to elect new members of the country’s 250-seat parliament, the 120-member assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and municipal councils.
Polling stations opened at 7am local time and will close at 8pm. Voting will be held in 8,273 polling stations in Serbia and 81 polling stations in 35 countries. A total of 2,817 candidates are contesting on 18 lists and 126 seats are needed to win a majority in the Assembly.
The new government will have to deal with serious issues facing Serbia. The first is Kosovo, which declared independence in February 2008. The second issue is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as Serbia has refused to impose sanctions against Russia. Despite this, Serbia is still under pressure from the US and the EU because of the current policy towards Russia.
In addition, Serbians in Kosovo, will not be allowed to vote as they need a special agreement with Serbia in order for members of Kosovo’s Serbian community with dual citizenship to be allowed to vote in Serbian parliamentary elections on Kosovo’s territory.
