Serbia celebrates this Sunday the fifth parliamentary elections in 10 years, in which the ruling SNS party, of President Aleksandar Vucic, seeks once again to renew its mandate,

A total of 8,273 polling stations opened today at 7:00 a.m. (06:00 GMT), where the 6.5 million citizens with voting rights will be able to cast their ballots to elect the 250 deputies of the national Parliament from 18 parties and coalitions.

Elections are also being held for the Assembly of the northern region of Vojvodina, and municipal elections in Belgrade and 64 other cities. The polls give the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) 40% of the votes, and the Serbian opposition coalition against violence (SPN) about 26%. The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), a traditional partner of the SNS, would obtain 9% of the votes and three other right-wing opposition parties between about 3% and 6.5%. Minority parties would also enter Parliament, for which the minimum threshold of 3% does not exist.

It is considered that a greater turnout at the polls, which in Serbia is usually slightly below 60%, would favor the opposition, which has tried to motivate undecided and abstinent voters to vote, considering that the majority of them They are opposition voters.

The SPN is a coalition of a dozen heterogeneous centre-left, green and centre-right, and pro-European formations, united for the first time with the common objective of defeating Vucic, whom they accuse of controlling the institutions and most of the media. . The elections were called at the request of its members, who coordinated the massive citizen protests after two armed attacks that left 19 dead in May, 10 of them children at a school in Belgrade.

The protests became anti-government and highlighted the great popular discontent against Vucic. The SPN aspires to win the mayoralty of the capital, which would be of great importance for the opposition given the total domination of Vucic’s party in the country.

Serbs in Kosovo, a former Serbian province that proclaimed independence in 2008, not recognized by Serbia, will be able to vote in several Serbian towns near the border after Kosovo banned voting on its territory.

The polling stations close at 19:00 GMT and the first projections or results will be known a few hours later.

More than 5,500 domestic and foreign observers will monitor the electoral process, a record number in Serbian elections.