Demostat: One Half of the Capital Supports Government, the Other Half in Favor of the Opposition

Ivana Petronijevic Terzic, Srecko Mihailovic, Zoran Panovic (BETAPHOTO/MEDIJA CENTAR BEOGRAD)

The director of the Demostat research and publishing center, Zoran Panovic, said on Jan. 4 that according to a recent survey by his organization one half of Belgraders would vote for the authorities, and the other half would support the opposition, wondering though “what is the opposition.”

Panovic said in an interview with the N1 TV that unlike Serbia’s ruling parties, “you can’t mechanically put the opposition parties in a single alliance that might win and pursue a coherent policy afterwards.” To illustrate the point, Panovic said that in such an alliance Don’t Let Belgrade Drown would have to work together with the Oath Takers.

Panovic explained that Demostat had divided political parties in Serbia into three groups – parties in power, which would win 59 percent of the voter support, center and center-left parties that could count on 33 percent, and the rightists, who could expect 17 percent of the support.

The Demostat leader added that the survey showed that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, also at the helm of the Serbian Progressive Party, was still trusted more than his party. When asked which is the strongest opposition party in Serbia, Panovic said the Freedom and Justice Party still boasted solid ratings.