Anger at the federal government has spilled onto the streets of Belgrade.
The disruption from coronavirus is not the only thing Serbia’s parliamentary election has in common with the restart of the English Premier League.
A result that is beyond major doubt is the other.
However while Liverpool FC ought to soon confirm their first title in 30 years, Aleksandar Vucic would just be extending a dominant run which already stretches back the best part of a decade.
Serbia’s president began his winning run in 2012 – when his Progressive Party (SNS) became the senior partner in a governing coalition. His main title was deputy prime minister, but it was clear from the start that Mr Vucic was running the show.
However despite his successes, the president’s previous ways that a substantial proportion of Serbians will never accept him as their leader. Mr Vucic worked as information minister in the crippling program of Slobodan Milosevic – the president who presided over the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990 s. His subsequent apologies and conversion to a pro-EU policy cut no ice with critics.
An SNS success in the 2014 election enabled him to end up being prime minister. Three years later on he relocated to the presidency – selecting Ana Brnabic as prime minister, however keeping a firm hang on executive power.
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Reuters
President Vucic has actually controlled Serbian politics for nearly a decade.
Opposition parties claim that Mr Vucic’s grip has started to strangle Serbia’s young democracy. Much of them are boycotting Sunday’s vot