Bojan Klacar

Ahead of the elections in the Serbian capital scheduled for March 4, Serbia's outdated voting system has one advantage: it is immune from potential hack attacks, experts say.

"The most susceptible system to hacking is the e-voting system, which Serbia doesn't have and will not have any time soon," Bojan Klacar, from the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, CeSid, told BIRN.

Turbulence inside the Movement of Free Citizens, PSG, led by Serbia's former Ombudsman and the runner-up in the April 2 presidential elections, Sasa Jankovic, will probably inflict serious damage on his campaign in the local elections in the Serbian capital next spring, experts are warning.

Vuk Jeremic, a former opposition candidate in the Serbian presidential elections, has announced that he will form his own political party in the autumn, and analysts say he has the potential to make a significant impact.

If, as expected, Serbia's parliament confirms Ana Brnabic as the country's new Prime Minister, Serbia will have a strongly pro-EU oriented premier.

Serbian bookmakers rate Ivica Dacic, leader of the junior partner in the ruling coalition, as the most likely man to replace the current Prime Minister and soon-to-be President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who won the presidential elections on April 2.

Dacic is the bookies' favourite by a wide advantage compared to the second-ranking Minister of Finance, Dusan Vujovic.  

Bookmakers in Serbia say the odds are heavily in favour of the Prime Minister and head of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Aleksandar Vucic, winning the presidential election.

The chances of him winning outright in the first round are slightly lower than his chances of winning in the second round, however, they said.

Vucic became the immediate favourite to win the Serbian presidency after the Progressive Party leadership named him as its favoured candidate on Tuesday.

In an interview with public broadcaster RTS after the decision was announced, Vucic portrayed himself as the candidate who could save the country from destruction by the opposition.

Serbia's canny Prime Minister could go for joint presidential and parliamentary elections in spring 2017 in order to mobilize voters and boost the chances of his party's presidential candidate, experts say.

Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, has taken took control of the traditional bastion of the opposition Democratic Party, the northern Province of Vojvodina, as well as most municipalities and major cities.

Bojan Klacar, director of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, told BIRN that the SNS was only a "relative winner" in last Sunday's elections.

CeSID Executive Director Bojan Klacar has said that around 15,000 signatures have been falsified "in the election campaign."

According to him, this indicates "an organized or a semi-organized system." The signatures in question are collected by parties to support their election list. Each electoral list must submit at least 10,000 statements, i.e., signatures, certified by law.