Serbia’s populists look to further tighten grip on power in tense election

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic is looking to further tighten his grip on power in an election that has been marred by reports of major irregularities during a tense campaign. The main contest in the parliamentary and local elections on Sunday is expected to be between Vucic’s governing right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, and a centrist coalition that is trying to undermine the populists who have ruled the troubled Balkan state since 2012. The Serbia Against Violence opposition list is expected to mount the biggest challenge to the populists on the ballot for the city council in Belgrade. Analysts say an opposition victory in the capital would seriously dent Vucic’s hardline rule in the country.