OSCE: Voter pressure undermined the election process in Serbia

2023-12-18 16:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

OSCE: Voter pressure undermined the election process in Serbia

Serbia's general elections/Reuters

The populist party of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic won the general and local elections held on Sunday in Serbia, according to preliminary results of the election commission.

The Serbian Progressive Party won 47 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections, while the opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence won 23 percent.

"The list 'Serbia cannot be stopped' will certainly have more than 127 MPs. Maybe we will have 128, 129 or 130, depending on the outcome of these elections. This list will have an absolute majority in the parliament of the Republic of Serbia", said President Vu?i? on Sunday evening announcing the victory.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition coalition, Miroslav Aleksic, said that the results of the elections cannot be accepted because of a manipulated election process.

"We witnessed an unprecedented vote abuse today. What happened during the campaign and earlier - the pressure on the voters, the buying of votes and the irregularities that this government used - happened today on an even wider scale, especially in the city of Belgrade. They brought people in buses, cars, people who don't live in Belgrade, many of whom came to Belgrade for the first time, to vote as citizens of Belgrade. They gathered them at the sports hall. We have evidence to prove it. To put it bluntly: what happened today in Serbia is something that simply cannot be accepted as the result of free democratic elections," declared Mr. Aleksic.

The biggest battle between the two political groups was in Belgrade. Although the results for the governance of Belgrade have not yet been announced by the election authorities, according to the forecasts of groups that observed the elections, the Progressive Party of Serbia of Mr. Vu?i? won 38 percent of the votes in Belgrade, while the opposition 35 percent.

Some citizens in Belgrade expressed their dissatisfaction with the result.

"I am completely dissatisfied with the elections, I am convinced that a big theft happened in Belgrade. I cannot agree with this fact. The police are supporting the theft of the vote. I cannot agree with the president who lies, who supports theft, who says that busing voters is acceptable. I'm still emotional and I can't think rationally. I am very excited, but this is unacceptable if we want to have a modern state," said Nikola Marjanovi? from Belgrade.

“They stole more now than in the past. No mercy. Everyone expected it and everyone knew it. No one knows anyone who votes for the Progressive Party, but in the end it turns out that they are the majority. We deserve this situation," said a resident of Belgrade who identified himself only as Dragan.

If the preliminary results are officially confirmed, President Vu?i?'s party will have an absolute majority in the 250-seat Assembly and will alone form the new government of Serbia, without the need for a coalition with other parties.

Irregularities have been reported by election observers and independent media. The mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe stated on Monday that "the oppression of voters, the decisive commitment of the President, as well as the priorities of the ruling party have undermined the electoral process as a whole." According to the OSCE, these factors along with media bias "created an uneven playing field." According to reports, Bosnian Serbs have been bussed in an organized manner to vote in Belgrade, around 40,000 identification documents have been issued to people who do not live in the capital, while in a northern Serbian city a team of observers has been attacked and a car they were hit with baseball bats. The ruling party has been accused of paying voters or putting pressure on them.

President Vucic and his party have denied the accusations.

But according to political analyst Zoran Stojilkovic, Mr. Vucic has created an atmosphere of "political blackmail" by warning of political destabilization if his party does not win the elections.

"Serbian President Vucic played a big role. He simply created an atmosphere of fear, engaging in political blackmail – saying that if his party and coalition did not win, then he would not be president and the residents would be responsible for the ensuing political crisis. On this theory he asked for massive support and got it, helped by the very passive and hypocritical attitude of the official West, for whom a 'stabilo-crat' in power is much more important than democratic values, someone they can control, who in theory, they have him in their pocket – in a word, he's a bad person, but he's theirs," said Mr. Stojilkovic.

Among the first congratulations on Mr Vucic's victory came from Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov congratulated Mr. Vucic and said Russia believes his victory "will contribute to the further development of the Republic."

The Serbian opposition has warned that it will file an official complaint and has called for popular protests./ VOA