Serbian president's resignation paves way for May poll

SERBIA IS expected to hold simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections on May 6th, after president Boris Tadic stepped down yesterday in an apparent bid to boost his party’s prospects at the ballot box.

Analysts said Mr Tadic hopes his personal popularity will help his Democratic Party (DS) fight off a strong challenge from populists and nationalists, who are critical of the government’s handling of the economic crisis and Serbia’s halting push for EU membership.

Mr Tadic, whose term had 10 months to run, has taken heavy flak from nationalists for arresting Serbia’s last fugitive war crimes suspects and for making compromises over Kosovo, which declared independence from Belgrade in 2008.

“I’m offering a road of European integration and preserving the country’s integrity. I will run in that election with optimism because of the positive trends in our country,” said Mr Tadic.

“The people will have the opportunity to decide which path Serbia will take. Rigorous reforms lie ahead of Serbia, and these reforms must be undertaken by strengthened institutions...Therefore the most convenient way is to have elections on all levels. I am doing this out of my sense of political responsibility.”

Local elections will also be held on May 6th, when Mr Tadic hopes Serbia’s recent attainment of EU candidate status and promises of more western investment will outweigh widespread frustration with poverty, corruption and a lack of tangible benefits on the long road towards EU accession.

“We understand that the motivation for this was to facilitate a well-established government and a solid parliamentary majority after elections,” said Vincent Degert, the EU’s chief envoy in Serbia, adding that Belgrade faced “challenges ahead, progress on the European path in particular”.

Surveys suggest Mr Tadic would beat Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNP), in a presidential ballot, but that the SNP would win a general election.

It would be very unlikely to secure an overall majority however, and Mr Tadic’s DS would be better placed to find coalition partners – suggesting that a prolonged period of political deadlock and horse-trading could ensue before a new Serbian government was in place.

Mr Nikolic has softened his rhetoric since leaving the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, and supports Serbia’s bid for EU membership.

However he criticises Mr Tadic and his government for placing the goal of EU accession above the need to improve living standards and crush corruption.

“If we were the ones to decide you would have better living conditions. We have many friends worldwide who would help us provide you with a better life,” Mr Nikolic said, hinting at his long-held advocacy for stronger ties with Russia and China – something the nationalists also favour.

The election campaign is likely to fuel tension in northern Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs defy the ethnic-Albanian government and occasionally clash with police and Nato-led peacekeepers.

They accuse Tadic of abandoning them to curry favour with the EU and US, but he insists that he will never recognise Kosovo’s independence.