BELGRADE: Serbia’s ruling party defeated the opposition on Sunday in Belgrade city council elections and some local elections across the country, which saw skirmishes between opposition supporters and backers of populist President Aleksandar Vucic.
An unofficial vote tally by pollster CESID showed that a coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), loyal to Vucic, won 52.9% of the vote in the capital.
The centre-right movement Kleni Promeni (Move for Change), led by lawyer Savo Manojlovic, came in second with 17.2% of the vote, while the left-wing Green party Biram Belgrade (I Choose Belgrade) came third with 12.5%.
The re-elections in Belgrade came after months of protests following Dec. 17 parliamentary and local elections that the opposition and international observers said were tainted by media bias, vote-buying and other irregularities.
About 20 percent of Serbia’s population of 6.7 million people live in Belgrade, and the mayor’s position is considered the fourth most important in the country after the president, prime minister and speaker of parliament.
Partial local elections were also held in 88 of Serbia’s 145 municipalities.
Earlier in the same day, opposition supporters clashed with social media activists in Belgrade and the northern city of Novi Sad.
Vucic declared victory and said his party would have a majority in Belgrade’s 110-seat city hall. “This is… an incredible victory,” he said.
Manojlovic said his alliance would not recognise the results. “This was the most fraudulent election in history,” he told supporters.
Serbian opposition parties and human rights monitors have accused Vucic and the social media group of stifling media freedom, inciting violence against opponents, corruption and ties to organized crime – allegations that Vucic and his allies deny.
Serbia is a candidate for European Union membership, but must implement reforms to the rule of law and media freedom, eradicate corruption and tackle organized crime before it can join.
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It also needs to repair relations with Kosovo and align its foreign policy with that of the EU, including by imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed (Reuters))
First revealed: 03 Jun 2024 02:00 IST
