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Review: Parliamentary Elections Preliminary results from yesterday's parliamentary elections somewhat unexpectedly announced the victory of Serbia's European-oriented political stream. Based on 85 percent of the votes counted, the coalition "For a European Serbia" led by President Boris Tadic won 38.75 percent or 102 seats in the next parliament. The Serb Radical Party (SRS), meanwhile, which had 81 seats in the last parliament, will now have only 77 seats, despite pre-election polls suggesting stronger support. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also suffered a significant drop in support compared to the last elections, winning only 5.2 percent of the vote. With the new government yet to be formed, however, the elections do not signal the end to political wrangling. The Democratic Party's preferred coalition is an alliance with the small Liberal Democratic Party and a number of minority parties, including the Bosniak coalition, the Hungarian coalition and the coalition of Presevo Valley Albanian parties. A coalition with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS)/New Serbia (NS), which won 11.34 percent or 30 seats is highly undesirable and unlikely, as the cost of attracting it back into a new government could prove to be too high. The key player that could have a decisive role in establishing a future government is the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the party of Milosevic, who was most responsible for Serbia's international isolation throughout the nineties. Over the course of the past few years, this party has somewhat reinvented itself and came as a surprise to its political opponents and analysts, by winning nearly 8 percent of the vote. Their negotiating position, however, will still be difficult since their voters seem to be closer to the DSS-NS coalition and the SRS, whereas the party itself could gain more by joining the Democratic Party’s coalition. As political leaders began coalition talks on Monday, the stakes for regional stability, the EU integrations and Serb citizens will be high. What the outcome of these elections demonstrated is that civil society in Serbia has grown into a factor with ever more importance in both political and public spheres. The turnout of 60.7 percent has also shown a certain degree of awareness of Serbian people who are increasingly coming to understand that only by taking a responsible, decisive and active role in society can necessary changes be materialized. The prospect of European integrations is no longer a distant and luring promise, but more tangible prospect, which necessitates systematic and devoted engagement of civil society. A significant percentage of the population, together with the political forces whom they predominantly supported in Sunday's elections, are aware that the future of Serbia lies within Europe. The EU, for their part, through overt support to reformist forces, have accelerated Serbia's path towards EU integration and seem to be willing to harness further the potential of the new government. These elections, however, also reaffirmed how deeply polarized the Serbian society is, leaning towards different poles of influence, this time represented by democratic forces, on one side, and the more conservative, traditional forces, on the other. |
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