SERBIA: President Boris Tadic calls parliamentary elections for May 6

Record ID: 572970

  • Title: SERBIA: President Boris Tadic calls parliamentary elections for May 6
  • Date: 13th March 2012
  • Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (MARCH 13, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SERBIAN PRESIDENCY BUILDING WINDOWS
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Serbia, Serbia
  • Country: Serbia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD5CMU81VHR1U08PT610Q0BY8M
  • Story Text: Serbian President Boris Tadic on Tuesday (March 13) called on the nation to take part in the parliamentary elections on May 6.
    Tadic's Democratic Party, in a ruling coalition with several small parties, is trailing in polls behind the opposition Serbian Progressive Party of conservative Tomislav Nikolic, but neither is likely to claim a majority to govern alone.
    After years of bitter rivalry, there is speculation the two might join forces to push through the reforms required for Serbia to eventually join the EU after it became an official candidate for membership this month.
    "I am calling on people to take part in the parliamentary vote on May 6th," said the Serbian president Boris Tadic. "I am calling on people to once again, with their votes, reaffirm the democratic and freedom-loving features of our society and I am calling on people to make their own choice. A choice for a better future, for a better life, a choice that will secure new potentials, that will secure new opportunities for all," he added.
    Serbia this month became an official candidate for membership of the EU after arresting and extraditing Bosnian Serb wartime general and genocide suspect Ratko Mladic in May last year, and after signs of progress in relations with its former Kosovo province.
    But past records suggest the horse-trading over a new coalition government will take months, delaying reforms and further costing an economy struggling with the fallout from the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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