Serbian president declares landslide election win

Serbia's president declared a landslide victory on Sunday for his right-wing party, in a parliamentary vote held amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus and a boycott by much of the opposition.

Aleksandar Vucic told jubilant supporters that his Serbian Progressive Party won over 60% of the vote, or some 190 seats in the 250-seat Serbian parliament.

The initial unofficial results indicate that Serbia will have a unique assembly, with virtually no opposition and only three or four parties out of the 21 which were running. Vucic's allied Socialists are slated to get 10% for the second place in the vote.

"I have long been in politics, but I have never experienced such a moment," Vucic said. "I'm talking about a historic moment in which one party can find itself. We have won everywhere, where we have never been winning in the past."

Sunday's vote was the first national election in Europe to take place during the virus pandemic.

The voting - initially planned for April but postponed because of the pandemic - came as Serbia was still reporting dozens of new cases daily after completely relaxing its strict lockdown rules.

The turnout among the nearly 6.6 million voters who were eligible to cast ballots for Serbia's 250-member parliament and local offices was lower than in previous elections.

While Serbian voters were not choosing a president on Sunday, Vucic has dominated the campaign through the mainstream media which he controls.