Serbian Parliament/President/Local Elections - May 6, 2012

[Tender Branson]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_parliamentary_election,_2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_presidential_election,_2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_local_elections,_2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vojvodina_parliamentary_election,_2012

Polls close in 10 minutes.

[Roma Caput Mundi]

Exit polls?

[JulioMadrid]

No one cares haha

[Meeker]

I can't find results/articles mentioning results anywhere.

[Joe Republic]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17978121

[Roma Caput Mundi]

SNS winning the parliamentary elections and runoff for the presidential ones,basically.

[Tender Branson]

RTS (Serbian TV) provides the results:



24.7% Pokrenimo Srbiju - Tomislav Nikolić - 72 seats
23.2% Izbor za bolji život - Boris Tadić - 67 seats
16.6% Ivica Dačić - SPS, PUPS, JS - 48 seats
  7.2% Demokratska stranka Srbije - Vojislav Koštunica - 20 seats
  6.6% Čedomir Jovanović - Preokret - 19 seats
  6.1% Ujedinjeni regioni - Mlađan Dinkić - 17 seats
  3.7% Dveri za život Srbije
  2.4% Savez vojvođanskih Mađara - Ištvan Pastor - 6 seats
  0.5% Nijedan od ponuđenih odgovora - 1 seat
  9.0% Others

http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/1950/Izbori+2012/1097176/Naprednjaci+i+demokrate+najbrojniji.html

Presidential results:



26.7% Boris Tadić
25.5% Tomislav Nikolić
15.3% Ivica Dačić
  7.7% Vojislav Koštunica
  7.1% Zoran Stanković
  5.3% Čedomir Jovanović
  3.9% Jadranka Šešelj
  2.7% Vladan Glišić
  2.1% Ištvan Pastor
  1.7% Zoran Dragišić
  1.1% Moamer Zukorlić
  0.8% Danica Grujičić

http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/1950/Izbori+2012/1097172/Tadi%C4%87+i+Nikoli%C4%87+u+drugom+krugu.html

Run-off between Tadić and Nikolić, like in the previous election.

[Frodo]

Serbia's Democrats, Socialists agree new alliance

By Matt Robinson and Aleksandar Vasovic
BELGRADE | Wed May 9, 2012 9:15am EDT

(Reuters) - Serbia's reformist Democratic Party and the resurgent Socialists of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic agreed on Wednesday to renew a governing coalition that would keep the country edging towards the European Union.

The alliance locks out the opposition Serbian Progressive Party, which narrowly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, but it will need the support of another junior partner to secure a majority in the 250-seat parliament.

"They share our values," Democratic Party deputy leader Dragan Sutanovac told a news conference, referring to the Socialists. "We've been partners with these people for four years and there's no mistrust."

The two first joined forces in 2008, eight years after the Democrats swept to power with the ouster of Milosevic and tilted the former Yugoslav republic westwards following a decade of war and isolation.

[Frodo]

Tadic is leading in the polls ahead of the runoff vote, 52% over 48% for Nikolic.  

[Frodo]

Nikolic has won the runoff, though narrowly, over Tadic.  

[Sibboleth]

Only a matter of time, I suppose. Oh well.

[Californian Tony]

Sh*t.

[Hashemite]

Good job Serbia! Welcome to the club of morons.

[RodPresident]

A good news... I hope that Nikolic's Serbia to form a moderate eurosceptic axis with Tsipras' Greece with Russian support.

[Zuza]

With whom Nikolic will form coalition most probably? Socialist Party? Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia?

A good news... I hope that Nikolic's Serbia to form a moderate eurosceptic axis with Tsipras' Greece with Russian support.

How eurosceptic is Nikolic actually? AFAIK he broke from Radicals due to disagreement about European integration.

[RodPresident]

Nikolic evolved to a moderate Pro-European position, but I think that he can go to a moderate Eurosceptic position with current events. Dacic will be likely Prime Minister, but I don't know in which coalition. A DS+SPS+URS or a SNS+PS+DSS. He can't go to the extremes.

[Zuza]

DS+SPS+URS

Serbian law allows coalitions without President's party?

[RodPresident]

Parliamentarism, my guy...

[ag]

A good news... I hope that Nikolic's Serbia to form a moderate eurosceptic axis with Tsipras' Greece with Russian support.

Oh, they should better just apply to join ALBA. Compañero Chavez wil show them the way.

There is a reason Russia is decidedly less than popular among its neighbors, whatever their ideological bent or religious affiliation. You really need to be desperate to go that way. Even in Serbia.

Nikolic might have had an interesting past, but he doesn't look that stupid. So, your hope of a pan-Orthodox brotherhood isn't very likely to be realized. If all that was required to get the Russian support were the absence of brains, I would have been less sure of Tsipras - but, fortunately, he is too much of a hippy to get anything from Putin.

[Frodo]

So what kind of President does everyone think Nikolic is going to be?  Is he going to be Putin's bitch, or is he going to continue Tadic's efforts in bringing Serbia into the European Union (and by extension, the West)?

[Tender Branson]

So what kind of President does everyone think Nikolic is going to be?  Is he going to be Putin's bitch, or is he going to continue Tadic's efforts in bringing Serbia into the European Union (and by extension, the West)?

Probably the latter most of the time, with a few ridiculous statements once in a while to not piss off his nationalist base.

[Frodo]

So it appears that Tadic and Nikolic have come to an agreement in which Tadic would remain in government as Prime Minister alongside newly-elected President Nikolic to reassure the European Union that Serbia will continue its reforms as part of its bid to join the EU:

Serbia rivals agree to cooperate on new government

Published May 28, 2012
Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia –  Serbia's new nationalist president and the liberal rival likely to be the next prime minister assured the country Monday that they could overcome deep differences and create a stable, pro-European Union government.

Tomislav Nikolic defeated his predecessor Boris Tadic in the presidential election earlier this month, and Nikolic's nationalist Progressive Party won the largest number of seats in the 250-member parliament. But because Tadic's Democrats gained enough allies to form the next Cabinet, Nikolic is expected to be forced to name Tadic as premier-designate.

The position of prime minister is stronger than that of the president, a largely ceremonial role that cannot draft laws.

The two bitter political foes met Monday, a day after Tadic announced the start of negotiations on the formation of a new government that would leave Nikolic without real power.

"We had very good talks," Tadic said. "This was a meeting not only about the transfer of power ... but about what Serbia's institutions should look like in the future."

[I Am Damo Suzuki]

So it appears that Tadic and Nikolic have come to an agreement in which Tadic would remain in government as Prime Minister alongside newly-elected President Nikolic to reassure the European Union that Serbia will continue its reforms as part of its bid to join the EU:


Published May 28, 2012
Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia –  Serbia's new nationalist president and the liberal rival likely to be the next prime minister assured the country Monday that they could overcome deep differences and create a stable, pro-European Union government.

Tomislav Nikolic defeated his predecessor Boris Tadic in the presidential election earlier this month, and Nikolic's nationalist Progressive Party won the largest number of seats in the 250-member parliament. But because Tadic's Democrats gained enough allies to form the next Cabinet, Nikolic is expected to be forced to name Tadic as premier-designate.

The position of prime minister is stronger than that of the president, a largely ceremonial role that cannot draft laws.

The two bitter political foes met Monday, a day after Tadic announced the start of negotiations on the formation of a new government that would leave Nikolic without real power.

"We had very good talks," Tadic said. "This was a meeting not only about the transfer of power ... but about what Serbia's institutions should look like in the future."

So the election result was completely paradoxical. I wonder how can be managed a cohabitation in Serbia given the complexity of the country and its recent History. I would be delighted if someone could give some insight on this issue.

[Tender Branson]

So what kind of President does everyone think Nikolic is going to be?  Is he going to be Putin's bitch, or is he going to continue Tadic's efforts in bringing Serbia into the European Union (and by extension, the West)?

Probably the latter most of the time, with a few ridiculous statements once in a while to not piss off his nationalist base.

Here we are, with only a few days in:

Srebrenica 'not genocide' - Serbia's President Nikolic

Serbia's new president, Tomislav Nikolic, has said the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 was not genocide.

"There was no genocide in Srebrenica," he told Montenegrin state television, but said that "grave war crimes" were committed.

He took office in Serbia on Thursday.

The massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in 1995 has been recognised as genocide by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague and the International Court of Justice.

"In Srebrenica, grave war crimes were committed by some Serbs, who should be found, prosecuted and punished," said Mr Nikolic, widely seen as a nationalist.

The Srebrenica crime figures in the genocide charges levelled against Gen Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime commander, and his wartime political chief Radovan Karadzic, both on trial at the war crimes court in The Hague.

"It is very difficult to indict someone and to prove before a court that an event qualifies as a genocide," Mr Nikolic said, without referring to the international court rulings.

The massacre happened just days after Bosnian Serb troops led by Gen Mladic overran the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica.

Mr Nikolic's predecessor as president, Boris Tadic, apologised to relatives of Srebrenica's victims in 2005 and attended memorial ceremonies there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18301196

[Californian Tony]

Here it begins...