The presidential party won the legislative elections in Serbia, the electoral commission announced this Monday evening, against a backdrop of irregularities noted by international observers and described as “unacceptable” by Germany.
A few hours earlier, a harsh report from international observers had denounced a vote marked by “vote buying” and “ballot box stuffing”. “Serbia voted but the OSCE reported cases of fraudulent use of public funds, intimidation of voters and vote buying,” denounced the German Foreign Ministry. “This is unacceptable for a country which has candidate status for the EU,” he argued.
Protest demonstrations
The “preliminary results” of the electoral commission give the SNS (nationalist right) in the majority with 46.7% of the votes. The opposition united under the banner “Serbia against violence” won 23.5% 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%, followed by the SPN with 38.18%. But these results are contested: the opposition denounces fraud in the capital, and several thousand demonstrators gathered Monday evening in front of the electoral commission (RIK) to demand a cancellation of the municipal vote. Only a few hundred people remained in the evening, notably students.
“It was a theft. I’m disgusted, it’s something that’s repetitive. I’m just disgusted. I want that to change,” explains Ana Mirkovic, 37, who came to protest in front of the RIK building.
“Stolen” elections
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 the 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 modifies our electoral will, the electoral will of the Belgraders.”
“Unacceptable”
The allegations of fraud were confirmed by a preliminary report from the international observation mission (OSCE, European Parliament and Council of Europe). 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 “purchases of votes 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 “Serbia Against Violence” opposition coalition, told the demonstrators. “We demand that the elections be canceled, that the electoral registers be cleaned (of false voters, Editor’s note), 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.
A biased campaign?
Born in the wake of the massive demonstrations that shook the country in May, after the death of 19 people in two shootings – including one in a primary school – the coalition has continued to denounce 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. The president’s omnipresence in the media has “had an impact on voters’ ability to make an informed choice.”
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. And Aleksandar Vucic promised a minimum wage of 1,400 euros by 2027 – compared to 590 euros in November. His success in skillfully maintaining ties between East and West are also appreciated by his voters.
This Monday, the Kremlin “welcomed” the victory of the Vucic camp, and the United States declared that it wanted to cooperate with Serbia to “strengthen” democracy – while refraining from commenting on the allegations of electoral irregularities.