Near-final results confirm populist victory in Serbia while the opposition claims fraud

By JOVANA GEC
Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An early official vote count of Serbia’s weekend election has confirmed the triumph of the ruling populist party in a parliamentary vote. An opposition group claims it was robbed of a victory in the capital, Belgrade. Sunday’s tense parliamentary and local election in the Balkan country pitted populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party against the Serbia Against Violence opposition coalition. Near-complete results released by the state election authorities showed Vucic’s SNS won some 47% of the ballots in the parliamentary vote, while the opposition group had 23%. Results for Belgrade city hall are yet to be released.