President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling party won a resounding victory in Serbia’s municipal elections, with an absolute majority in 81 of the 89 municipalities where voting took place, including in the capital Belgrade. But in five municipalities, the opposition seems to be able to win and the results keep changing in these municipalities.
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Serbia’s ruling party won elections in Belgrade, president announced Aleksandar Vucic Sunday evening, six months after a first vote marred by fraud, demonstrations, international protests, and in the face of an opposition more divided than ever.
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“ We had the majority even after December 17 in Belgrade “, declared the president in the evening, in a speech broadcast live. “ But we felt that it was not legitimate enough, because others did not want to form a coalition with us. Now we will have 62 or 63 seats “, said Aleksandar Vucic. In mid-December, the president’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, nationalist right) won 49 of the 110 seats on the municipal council. Shortly after his speech, fireworks echoed in the sky of the capital.
According to the first results published by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) and Ipsos, the SNS came first with 53% of the votes in Belgrade. With 17% of the votes, Kreni Promeni (“Go for Change”), a newcomer to the opposition, came second.
Pressure and vote buying
Turnout was lower than in December – two hours before polling stations closed, at 6:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT), 37% of voters in the capital had voted, compared to more than 45% in December, according to the the only official participation figures published during the day.
Election observers affirmed that pressure on voters, vote buying and even violence marred the vote. However, in five municipalities, the democratic opposition claims to have won. But the results in these municipalities have continued to change, and the electoral commissions, the majority of whose members belong to President Vucic’s SNS, now announce a victory for the ruling party in four of them, reports our correspondent at Belgrade, Laurent Rouy.
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The various opposition lists speak of ballot manipulation. The President, the Prime Minister and the President of Parliament affirm on the contrary that the vote was irreproachable, and that the media and the opposition are at the origin of the violence observed during the vote, violence of which the supporters were victims according to them. of the ruling party. Less than 48 hours after the election, the political situation in Serbia once again resembles a dialogue of the deaf, and the opposition announces demonstrations to defend its meager victories.