Aleksandar Vucic declared a convincing victory in the capital and almost all other municipalities in the country where elections were held.
Serbia's ruling nationalist Serbian Pro-Kremlin Party (SPP) declared victory in Belgrade in a re-run of local elections. Six months after accusations of fraud in previous elections sparked weeks of protests.
While official results have not yet been announced, Serbia's President and SPP leader Aleksandar Vucic has declared a convincing victory in the capital and almost all other municipalities in the country where elections were held.
The SPP won the December elections with 49 seats in the city council, but failed to form a municipal government, leading to new elections.
"We had a majority even after December 17 in Belgrade. But we felt that this was not enough legitimacy because some others did not want to form a coalition with us. Now we will have 62 or 63 seats" out of 110 in the city council, Vucic said.
Shortly after Vucic's speech, fireworks erupted in the capital.
According to preliminary results based on exit polls published by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) and Ipsos, the S is leading with 53% of the vote in Belgrade, followed by the new opposition party, Kreni Change, with 17% of the vote.
Voter turnout was lower than in December - two hours before polls closed at 18:00 local time, 37% of voters in the capital had cast their ballots, compared to over 45% in December, according to the only official turnout figures released that day.
Unlike last year's election, the SPP faced divided opposition, with some boycotting the vote and others trying to attract voters.
Savo Manoilovic, leader of Kreni Change and a candidate for mayor of Belgrade, expressed satisfaction with the results but added: "There is nothing to celebrate in a country with such electoral conditions."
"This is a great success for these people, all the observers, candidates and supporters who supported us in impossible conditions with a budget in which we did not have a single billboard," Manoilovic added.
He said this was the "most irregular election" ever and that their result was the strongest percentage result for the opposition since 2012.
Reports of irregularities - Local NGOs CRTA and CeSID, which monitored the vote, reported dozens of irregularities, including vote-buying or double voter registration.
Aleksandar Jovanovic-Cuta from the opposition in Serbia assessed the situation in the country as Colombia.
"What we had the opportunity to see today is Colombia," Jovanovic said.
He said today's voting in Serbia's local elections was marked by a "series of irregularities", for which he blamed the Serbian Progressive Party.
"We were ready for everything that happened, and what awaits us is a battle," Jovanovic said.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will share their initial report on the vote Monday morning.
Opposition activists on social media accused the SPP of organizing a call center to buy votes in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city.
Local media reported that when activists tried to enter the building, clashes broke out and tear gas was used.
International observers of the December elections, including from the OSCE's Democratic Institutions Unit and the European Union, claimed irregularities including vote-buying and ballot-rigging.
Those accusations fueled weeks of protest rallies outside government offices.
Serbia's Supreme Court rejected an opposition request to annul the vote.
Vucic has used an ultranationalist message to rally a SPP base angered by a vote in the UN General Assembly last month to establish an annual day of remembrance for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
The president himself attended the vote in New York wrapped in a Serbian flag to denounce the resolution, which he said would "open old wounds" and "create complete political chaos."
To crack down on potential fraud, opposition-backed legislation was passed in May that bans anyone who has moved in the last year from voting in their new constituency.
This followed accusations in December that Serbs from neighboring Bosnia were being transported to Belgrade to vote illegally.
The problems surrounding the December elections appear to have limited campaigning and public interest in the elections.
"I have seen more calls to boycott the elections than to participate in them," said a student.
During the campaign, "I didn't notice any actions like I did for the previous election in December. | BGNES
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