(Belgrade) “Vote buying” and “ballot box stuffing” were observed during the parliamentary elections in Serbia on Sunday, from which the presidential camp emerged victorious. The opposition denounces fraud and calls for a new election in Belgrade.
The vote “went off generally without problems, but was marked by isolated cases of violence, procedural irregularities and frequent allegations of organizing and transporting voters to support the ruling party in local elections “, international observers said at a press conference on Monday. “Other cases of serious irregularities, including vote buying and ballot stuffing,” were observed.
The observers, sent by the OSCE, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, also stressed that these elections, although technically “well organized” and offering “a choice to voters” were dominated by “the decisive involvement of the president”, Aleksandar Vucic, offering his party, the SNS (nationalist right) “an undue advantage”.
According to the first results – the official count is not expected before Monday evening – the SNS won 127 seats out of the 250 in Parliament.
“My job was to do everything in my power so that you get the absolute majority in parliament,” Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday evening – and “we will have the absolute majority.” In the previous elections, in April 2022, the SNS won 120 seats.
The frequency of elections – three in less than 4 years, was also highlighted by observers, “have further eroded public confidence in the functioning of democratic institutions”. Mr. Vucic and his party won them all.
This year, the 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.
For his supporters, Vucic’s years in power brought billions in investment to a once-chaotic country. Between 2012 and 2022, foreign direct investments in Serbia increased from 1 to 4.4 billion euros.
His success in skillfully maintaining links between East and West are also appreciated. The Serbian president is a master in the art of navigating between his “big Russian brother” and the European Union, to which Serbia has been a candidate for entry for many years. The Kremlin also “welcomed” the victory of Aleksandar Vucic’s camp.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also hailed “President Vucic and the members of his list for their overwhelming victory”.
And Belgrade?
PHOTO DJORDJE KOJADINOVIC, REUTERS
“The biggest concern is caused by the larger number of voters brought from other places to Belgrade,” the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) had already said on Sunday.
The SNS also claimed a majority in the capital, with 38.5% of the votes, or 23,000 more than the opposition.
“We invite the citizens of Belgrade to demonstrate against electoral theft,” declared the opposition united under the banner “Serbia against violence” on Monday morning, before calling for the cancellation of the vote in the capital, citing irregularities. . A call to demonstrate at 6 p.m. was launched.
Born from the monster demonstrations which shook the country in May, after the death of 19 people in two shootings – including one in a primary school – the opposition coalition has never stopped denouncing a biased campaign, tainted according to it by frauds.
According to their press release, “more than 40,000 people” voted in the capital without being residents, transported by bus from Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity in neighboring Bosnia.
“Everything we have seen is not really democratic,” said Aleksandra Tomanic, of the European Fund for the Balkans. “It’s so obviously a fraud so as not to lose the city – the whole diaspora has the right to participate in the legislative elections, but not in the local elections.”
“The real big question is what will happen tonight and in the days to come, how the international community will react,” she added.
Accusations brushed aside by the party.