Presidential elections were held in Serbia on January 20 and February 3, 2008. Incumbent President Boris Tadić was re-elected as president in the second round with 51% of the vote, defeating challenger Tomislav Nikolić. The elections for president were the first since Serbia became independent, when the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro was dissolved by the secession of Montenegro in 2006. The first round of elections was held on January 20, 2008, when none of the candidates secured an absolute majority of the votes cast. Thus a run-off election took place on February 3, 2008, between Tomislav Nikolić of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and Boris Tadić of the Democratic Party (DS) (the incumbent president) who finished first and second respectively in the first round. 6,708,697 registered voters were able to vote, which was around 50,000 more since the parliamentary election held in the beginning of 2007, on 8,481 electoral posts across Serbia and 65 in 36 foreign countries. Of that figure, 37,053 are abroad, 9,187 in military service and 8,201 in prison. Persons residing in Montenegro with Serbian citizenship were also allowed to vote in seven Montenegrin towns: Podgorica, Berane, Herceg Novi, Budva, Tivat, Sutomore and Andrijevica. A re-vote of the second round was held in Dobro Polje due to some irregularities on 12 February 2008. Tadić was sworn in for his second term on 15 February 2008.

Background

The previous session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted a Constitutional Law on 10 November 2006 that proclaimed the new Constitution. As per it, parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulić was to schedule the election by 31 December 2007 or 60 days after the new laws regarding the president of the republic, presidential elections, defense, the military, foreign affairs and the security services are passed. Five of the six necessary laws on presidential elections were passed by the parliamentary majority on 11 December 2007. On 12 December 2007 Dulić had scheduled the first round of election for January 20 and second round for February 3, 2008. The Electoral Commission of the Republic of Serbia declared that candidates were due to apply on December 30, 2007, the latest, submitting 10,000 signatures. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Commonwealth of Independent States were the nationwide neutral observer of the election, including several British and American observers. Two parties representing the Albanians from Preševo Valley, the Democratic Union of the Valley and the Party of Democratic Action called for Albanians from outside Kosovo to participate in the election.

Candidates

First round

Second round

Campaign and issues

After it was determined that the two-candidate runoff would consist of Tadić and Nikolić, the period after the first round voting converged on Serbia's accession to the European Union, the status of Kosovo in Serbia's constitution, and various social issues. On January 30, 2008, Tadić and Nikolić participated in a televised debate conducted by RTS. Tadić emphasized Serbia's accession process to the European Union, whereas Nikolić stated that Serbia needed to cooperate with both the EU and Russia. Tadić and Nikolić exchanged accusations on each of their own stances regarding the European Union. Tadić criticized Nikolić's Serbian Radical Party for its eurosceptic history, after which Nikolić said that "Serbia will never be a Russian governorate, but also never a European colony." They both shared similar concerns for corruption, poverty, and both candidates told the audience that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia. However, Nikolić stated in the debate that Kosovo "will declare independence as soon as the presidential election is finished." Just over a month later, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.

Forecasting

Results

Gallery

International reactions