Thewesternbalkans
Serbia’s ruling SNS party claimed victory at tense municipal elections in dozens of cities and towns throughout the country, including a rerun vote in the capital, Belgrade. The elections were held on June 2, nearly six months after allegations of fraud in a previous poll.
According to results based on 100% of processed data published by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) and Ipsos, which was likely to be confirmed by the state electoral commission, the SNS came out on top with 52.9 % of the vote in Belgrade followed by centre-right movement “Kreni Promeni” led by lawyer Savo Manojlović, with 17.4 % of the vote. The coalition “Biramo Beograd” was third with 12.2% of the vote.
Тhese results gives SNS the majority of 64 out of 110 seats in the Belgrade City Assembly, which is 15 seats more compared to the previous elections in December 2023.
Turnout, meanwhile, was lower than in December – 46.5% of voters in the capital had cast their ballots, compared with 58.41 % in December, according to the official turnout figures.
Partial local elections were also held in 88 of Serbia’s 145 municipalities. According to preliminary results published by CeSID, SNS wins the elections in Novi Sad with 53.1 % of the vote.
Serbia’s third-biggest city, Niš, remained a potential holdout against the dominance of Vučić’s SNS. With official results still to be published, CeSID said that according to its own projection four opposition candidate lists had won a total of 31 of the Nis City Assembly’s 61 seats. SNS wins 29 seats, or 44.4% of the vote and its “natural ally” – Ruska Stranka, wins 1 seat.
Local NGOs, observing the voting, reported dozens of irregularities, including vote-buying or double registration of voters. Opposition activists on social media accused the SNS of organizing a call centre to buy votes in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city.
According to the OSCE Office’s report, issued on June 3, “Serbia’s local elections were well run and freedom of expression and assembly were respected, but the dominance of the ruling party as well as the fragmentation of the opposition reduced their competitiveness, while allegations of widespread pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources favoured the ruling coalition.”
Comment: The rerun election in Belgrade came after several months of protests following parliamentary and partial local elections on December 17, which the opposition and international observers say were marred by irregularities, including media bias and vote-buying.
In December, SNS won 49 of the 110 seats in Belgrade’s city parliament, followed by the opposition coalition “Serbia Against Violence” with 43 seats. Now, the ruling party wins 15 more seats and will have majority at the Belgrade Assembly.
The two main reasons for the victory, not only in the capital, but almost in every city and municipality where the elections were held, are the big pressure from the ruling party, and on the other side, the collapse of the strong opposition coalition after the previous elections.
One thing is sure – the victory would cement the Vučić’s SNS vast hold on power in the country.
