Thousands of people demonstrated this Monday evening in Belgrade to denounce the results of the elections marked by “vote buying” and “ballot box stuffing”, according to international observers. The Serbian electoral commission confirmed Monday evening the victory of the presidential party (SNS – radical right) in the legislative elections with 46.7% of the votes, announcing its “preliminary results”. The opposition united under the banner “Serbia against violence” won 23.58% of the votes, according to these results, which will only be final in a few days, once the appeal period has expired. In Belgrade, the local commission gives the SNS the winner with 44.5%.
But the opposition denounces fraud in the capital: several thousand demonstrators gathered Monday evening in front of the electoral commission (RIK) to demand a cancellation of the vote and the departure of the president, Aleksandar Vucic. “It was a theft. I’m disgusted, it’s something that’s repetitive. I’m just disgusted. I want it to change,” explains Ana Mirkovic, 37, who came to protest in front of the RIK building. Sunday’s legislative elections were coupled in some places with local ballots. This was particularly the case in Belgrade, where 1.5 million people live, almost a quarter of the country. The SNS claimed a majority there – with 38.5% of the votes, or 23,000 more than the opposition.
But according to the opposition coalition “Serbia Against Violence” (SPN), “more than 40,000 people” voted in the capital without being residents, transported by bus from Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity in neighboring Bosnia. Several videos posted on social networks on Sunday claimed to show the arrival of voters in one of the city’s stadiums, where they were told in which neighborhoods they should go to vote. “The elections were stolen by the massive transport of voters to Belgrade,” denounced Aleksa Madzarevic, a 20-year-old student, in the demonstration. “These are simply not the people who live in Belgrade and the power in this way changes our electoral will, the electoral will of the Belgraders.”
“Voice buying”
Allegations of fraud confirmed by the preliminary report of the international observation mission (OSCE, European Parliament and Council of Europe): the observers described a vote “marked by isolated cases of violence, procedural irregularities and frequent allegations of organizing and transporting voters to support the ruling party in local elections”, as well as “vote buying and ballot stuffing”. “The opinion of the OSCE is the same as that of the crowd gathered here,” Dragan Djilas, one of the leaders of the opposition coalition “Serbia Against Violence,” told the demonstrators. “We demand that the elections be canceled, that the electoral registers be cleaned (Editor’s note: fake voters), and we hope that we will achieve this by peaceful means.” Two other coalition leaders, Marinika Tepic and Miroslav Aleksic, will begin a hunger strike, he added.
Born in the wake of the massive demonstrations which shook the country in May, after the death of 19 people in two shootings – including one in a primary school – the coalition has constantly denounced a biased campaign. The campaign was marred by “violent rhetoric, biased media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources”, all against a backdrop of “decisive involvement of the president”, Aleksandar Vucic, offering his party “an unfair advantage”, according to observers. “My job was to do everything in my power so that you obtain an absolute majority in parliament,” declared Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday evening, announcing his party’s victory.
The frequency of elections – three in less than four years – was also pointed out by observers, according to whom this has “further eroded public confidence in the functioning of democratic institutions”. The president’s omnipresence in the media has “had an impact on the possibility for voters to make an informed choice”, according to the observation mission. The electoral campaign mainly revolved around the economy, in one of the poorest countries on the European continent, which saw inflation reach 16% in the spring before decreasing to around 8% in November.
Aleksandar Vucic has promised a minimum wage of 1,400 euros by 2027 – compared to 590 euros in November. His success in skillfully maintaining links between East and West are also appreciated. The Kremlin also “congratulated” the victory of Aleksandar Vucic’s camp. And the United States has said it wants to cooperate with Serbia to “strengthen” democracy – while refraining from commenting on allegations of electoral irregularities. “We look forward to continuing to work with Serbia’s next government to strengthen democratic governance and the rule of law, and advance regional stability,” the State Department spokesperson said.