Serbia PM Seeks Allies in Opposition-Run Province

Nenad Canak and Aleksandar Vucic at Serbian government | Photo by Beta

Serbian Prime Minister and ruling Progressive Party leader Aleksandar Vucic met leading Vojvodina politician Nenad Canak on June 24 in what analysts say is a move designed to seek new political allies in the opposition-run province.

Vucic said the government planned to move the headquarters of part of the Electric Power Industry of Serbia to Novi Sad, the main city in Vojvodina.

"The heart of the [power] distribution system will be in Novi Sad, which means new investments," Vucic said.

Vucic invited Canak for a meeting after his party, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, asked for the overhaul of the power utility, which entails unifying the five power utilities into one, headquartered in Belgrade, to exclude the Vojvodina-based company, Elektrovojvodina.

Vucic's meeting with Canak was seen as a political coup as his League of Social Democrats is part of the opposition-run ruling coalition in the province and because the party is a vocal proponent of more autonomy for Vojvodina - which the Progressives traditionally oppose.

Right-oriented political parties in Serbia have openly called Canak's party a separatist movement.

The Progressives emerged as the leading party in Serbia in the 2012 and 2014 general elections, but the Democrats have fought off attempts to topple their ruling coalition in the Vojvodina assembly.

New elections in Vojvodina must be held no later than the next spring, and the Progressives have called for elections to be held in December.

After meeting with Vucic, Canak said the decision on the power company showed that this was the first Serbian government in years to show any consideration for Vojvodina.