(1 Apr 2017) 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 (EU) 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.
Out of 10 opposition candidates running against Vucic, only three or four can expect to reach 10 percent of the votes.
Vucic insists he will carry out economic and social reforms needed for the country to enter the EU, while strengthening close links with traditional ally Russia.
Luka Maksimovic, the media and communications student, is running as a grotesque parody politician in a white suit, oversized jewelry and a man-bun.
Maksimovic's alter ego, Ljubisa Beli Preletacevic, is shown doing pushups, sucking a raw egg or riding a white horse surrounded by mock bodyguards.
Maksimovic's supporters are mostly young voters alienated by decades of crisis and economic decline.
Vuk Jeremic, 41, is a former foreign minister who last year ran for the post of United Nations (UN) Secretary General and served as the head of the UN General Assembly before that.
He stresses his rich diplomatic experience, and has waged a Western-style campaign with his wife, former state TV anchor Natasa Jeremic, by his side.
A political newcomer, Sasa Jankovic won international and domestic praise while serving as Serbia's first Ombudsman, or citizens' rights defender - a position he abandoned to bid for the presidency.
Running as an independent, the 46-year-old lawyer is supported by liberal opposition parties, rights organisations and some prominent individuals.
Vojislav Seselj, the extreme right-wing leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, is notorious for his aggressiveness and loud behavior.
He helped organise dreaded paramilitary units during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but was acquitted of war crimes by a UN court in the Netherlands.

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