SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic continues to convincingly lead in the race for Serbia’s next president, according to a new Ipsos Strategic Marketing poll.
Vucic currently has 53 percent support and a big chance of winning in the first round of the April 2 election. Luka Maksimovic, aka Ljubisa Beli Preletacevic, is now second with a rating of about 11 percent.
He is followed by Sasa Jankovic (10.6), Vojislav Seselj (8.7), Vuk Jeremic (6.9), Bosko Obradovic (3.5), Sasa Radulovic (1.7), Nenad Canak (1.7), Milan Stamatovic (1.5), Aleksandar Popovic (1.1), and Miroslav Parovic (0.3 percent).
Ipsos Strategic Marketing’s Marko Uljarevic told the daily Blic, which reported about the survey, that Maksimovic’s rise in popularity was the most important new development compared to the poll done three weeks before.
He said those who support the candidate, described by Serbia’s current president, Tomislav Nikolic, as “a sociological phenomenon,” are mostly under 30 years of age, while “older voters have a hard time accepting alternative methods of communication and messages based on satire.”
When it comes to the expected turnout, Preletacevic’s showing up on the scene did not cause any big changes, “so the conclusion could be that most of his voters came from the opposition candidates.”
Uljarevic also expects “more changes” in the candidates’ ratings to occur before the end of the campaign.
According to him, the likelihood of Vucic winning in the first round is significant, as he as “a reserve of several percent that he could gain in the days leading up to the finish of the campaign.”
The face-to-face survey was done March 16-18 using a random representative sample of 1,500 adult citizens.
The draw
On March 17, the Electoral Commission (RIK) unanimously passed a decree establishing the ballot for the upcoming presidential elections, Beta has reported.
The order of presidential candidates on the ballot, as determined in a public draw is the following: 1. Sasa Jankovic, nominated by a group of citizens, For a Serbia Without Fear; 2. Vuk Jeremic, a presidential nominee put forward by another group of citizens, We Need to Do Better; 3. Miroslav Parovic of the People’s Libertarian Movement; 4. Sasa Radulovic, nominated by the Enough is Enough Movement, 5. Luka Maksimovic, a candidate supported by a group of citizens Ljubisa Preletacevic Beli; 6. Aleksandar Vucic, the ruling coalition’s candidate; 7. Bosko Obradovic of the Dveri Movement; 8. Vojislav Seselj, the Serb Radical Party leader; 9. Aleksandar Popovic of the Democratic Party of Serbia; 10. Milan Stamatovic, supported by a group of citizens, For a Healthier Serbia, and 11. Nenad Canank, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina leader.
(B92, 20.03.2017)
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2017&mm=03&dd=20&nav_id=100802
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