Serbia to hold snap elections in a bid to accelerate reform

Serbia's governing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has announced snap parliamentary elections, most likely in March, deputy premier Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday, according to dpa. The move is considered a bid to increase the party's mandate so it can seek accelerated reform. "My proposal to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) presidency tomorrow (Sunday) will be to test the will of the people," Vucic told an SNS conference, adding that Serbia - which formally began membership talks with the European Union on January 21 - needs to accelerate much-needed economic and political reform. The SNS emerged as the largest party in parliament after elections were held in May 2012. However, Vucic ceded the position of premier to Ivica Dacic, leader of its junior coalition partner, the Socialist Party (SPS). The date of the elections has not been set, but the poll is expected to be held together alongside local elections in the capital Belgrade and several other cities on March 16. All recent polls place Vucic and the SNS firmly on top of popularity rankings. Calling for early elections is considered a bid by the party to cash in on this position. A Faktor Plus survey conducted in late December found that nearly 45 per cent of the electorate would back the SNS - an outcome which would grant the party a significantly more powerful position in parliament. The survey found that SNS' junior coalition party would capture 10 per cent of the vote, while country's opposition leader, the Democratic Party, would win an 11.5-per-cent vote share