Belgrade, 3 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - In a vote overshadowed by irregularities, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's ruling SNS party has won local elections in the capital Belgrade, election officials said on Monday.

The right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) garnered 53% of the vote in Sunday's polls, winning 64 seats in the 110-seat city parliament, the municipal election commission said.

The city parliament is responsible for electing the capital's mayor.

Incumbent Aleksandar Šapić from the SNS, a former water polo player, is expected to secure a second term.

Local elections took place across the Balkan country on Sunday, with the ruling party coming out on top in almost all of the 88 cities, municipalities and districts holding polls.

Election observers CRTA reported numerous irregularities. They said ballot secrecy was not respected and that they had grounds to believe that ruling party activists were often controlling the votes.

Vučić has been governing Serbia in various positions since 2012. He has been accused of fuelling political hatred and violence and aligning himself with Russia and China.

In Belgrade and many other municipalities, the opposition is fractured and some parties boycotted the election in the capital saying the conditions for a free and fair vote had not been met.

The capital initially held local elections on December 17, on the same day as Serbia's parliamentary elections, but a stalemate in the city parliament meant no candidate received enough votes to be elected mayor, prompting a rerun on Sunday.

Election researchers found that massive fraud on the part of Vučić's power apparatus prevented the opposition from winning the December election.