Preliminary results: Win for the incumbent party in the Belgrade local election redo.
The party of Vucic manages to win in majority of the municipalities in the nation. The complete outcomes are yet to be disclosed.
In the Serbian capital, two hours before the voting rooms closed at 6:00 PM, only 37% of voters had cast their vote - a significant decrease compared to the earlier elections with a turnout rate of over 45%.
In mid-December, after allegations of irregularities were unveiled, repeat elections indeed took place in Belgrade for the parliamentary and municipal elections. The president, Vucic, proclaimed a convincing victory for his right-wing party, SNS, which won 49 out of 110 seats of the city council in Belgrade. However, the loose opposition coalition "Serbia against Violence" garnered 43 seats.
Election observers from the OSCE identified instances of "irregularities", "vote buying", and "ballot box stuffing". This led to widespread opposition accusations of fraud. The government-run SNS denied these allegations. The absence of a government-friendly majority caused a fresh string of elections in March.
Post announcement of the preliminary outcomes on Sunday, Vucic stated, "We already had a majority even after December 17 in Belgrade." The party believes the legitimacy of this election result is insufficient, "as not everyone wanted to join a coalition with us." As a result, they expect to acquire 62 or 63 out of 110 seats on city council in the end.
Although he did not participate in the race, Vucic was the 'face' of the "Aleksandar Vucic - Belgrade Morning" coalition's campaign. Despite maintaining a fragmented opposition, the party still aims to overthrow the current mayor of Vucic's SNS party, Aleksandar Sapic.
The head of the opposition party Go For Change and their candidate for the Belgrade mayoral race, Savo Manojlovic, deemed the tentative results of his party a "fantastic success" for "all observers, candidates, and supporters who stayed beside us in unfavorable circumstances". Nevertheless, he concluded, "In a country like ours where these conditions prevail for elections, there's nothing to celebrate."
Local non-government organizations CRTA and Cesid observed many irregularities in this election, such as "vote buying" or instances of "duplicate voter registration". The OSCE election observers are set to present their initial assessment on Monday morning.
Read also:
The preliminary results show a victory for the Serbian Progressive Party in the Belgrade local election redo, with partial results revealing a majority win in several municipalities across Serbia. The OSCE, present as election observers, noted instances of irregularities during the elections, leading to widespread opposition accusations of fraud. Despite this, the Serbian Progressive Party, led by Aleksandar Vucic, has declared a convincing victory, securing 49 out of 110 seats in the Belgrade city council in December's parliamentary election redo. The loose opposition coalition "Serbia against Violence" garnered 43 seats, while the preliminary outcome on Sunday placed the Serbian Progressive Party on track to acquire 62 or 63 seats.
Local non-government organizations CRTA and Cesid observed irregularities during the elections, including instances of vote buying and duplicate voter registration. The OSCE election observers are scheduled to present their initial assessment on Monday morning. The governing party's success in the local elections, such as in Belgrade, adds to Vucic's political power before the forthcoming parliamentary election in 2023. The Belgrade mayoral race, with Savo Manojlovic rising as the opposition's candidate, remains a contentious issue, with Manojlovic describing the preliminary results as a "fantastic success" but also acknowledging the challenging conditions for free and fair elections in Serbia.
