10 candidates chase front-runner in Serbia vote – WBNews

Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. Vucic, a former firebrand ultranationalist now a declared European Union supporter, is a clear favorite to win. His support is hovering around 50 percent. If he gets more than half the vote on Sunday, he would avoid a runoff election on April 16 in which the opposition could coalesce behind a single candidate. Critics say he wants to establish the kind of autocracy seen in Russia under Vladimir Putin, who has endorsed Vucic’s presidential bid. Opposition candidates have accused him of mudslinging, controlling the media and intimidating voters ahead of the election. Vucic denies such accusations, but his overwhelming media dominance was apparent on the eve of the vote when seven major newspapers featured the same front pages: Vucic’s campaign poster. Out of 10 opposition candidates running against Vucic, only three or four can expect to reach 10 percent of the votes. ALEKSANDAR VUCIC The former extreme nationalist has sought to rebrand himself as a pro-EU reformer. He has tries to project an image of a firm but just statesman who is working hard for the nation, keeping it independent and proud. Vucic says an opposition president would mean instability and insecurity — thus playing on the Serbs’ fears of the repeat of the 1990s crisis years when ex-strongman Slobodan Milosevic’s warmongering policies left tens…more detail