Without official results released by the Electoral Commission, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, for its acronym in Serbian), the formation of President Aleksandar Vučić, has been declared this Sunday winner of the early parliamentary elections in the country. A result that was later corroborated by an independent institute after publishing its own projections.
If confirmed, in second place would be the newborn Serbian Coalition Against Violence (Srbija protiv nasilja), which denounced the corruption that reigns in Serbia and accused Vučić of an autocratic exercise of the institutions and the media. With that, The longed-for relief has not occurred.
In total, some 6.5 million of voters (of which 1.6 million in Belgrade) were called to the polls. The stake was slightly higher than in the previous parliamentary elections, according to preliminary data. In Belgrade, the good weather and sunny election day also left scenes of queues at the city’s polling stations, along with curious snapshots, such as squares full of people who were going to do their Christmas shopping as if it were any other day. Others listened to Balkan music a few meters from the polls.
However, at the exit of some of the voting centers, such as the one on Kosovska Street, was difficult to find to president’s electors Serbian, undisputed protagonist, despite not being a candidate, of the entire electoral campaign. Vučić? He has destroyed what was left of the Serbian economy after Milosević and what was left of my pension, which is nothing more than 300 euros a month,” explained Gordana, a 74-year-old retiree, as she left the school on Kosovska Street. “There is a lot injustice in this country,” added Marko, who emigrated to France, like so many young Serbians who have left the country due to lack of opportunities.
good juggler
In fact, these early parliamentary elections have been held by decision of the Vucicwho summoned them with the intention of get stronger and save time in the face of their international commitments. All this, after months of massive protests against his government in Belgrade and a new outbreak of violence in the north of Kosovowhere in September thirty Serbian paramilitaries They ambushed a Kosovo patrol. The link between Vučić and one of the assailants once again put the Serbian president in the crosshairs of Washington and Brussels, previously more concerned about his Kosovo colleague and Prime Minister of Kosovo, the also nationalist Albin Kurti.
For many, the strategy of Vučić was then to present himself as a element of continuity and a guarantee that Serbia does not go excessively off script and cause major upheavals in its wake on delicate issues such as the dialogue with Kosovo. “It’s not about me leaving power, but rather that they want to destroy everything,” Vučić said at a recent rally. Furthermore, the Serbian president refuted all criticism by calling himself the victim of a “foreign plot” and warning that Serbia would lose its way without him in charge.
Even so, according to the prestigious CRTA observatory, the electoral campaign was marked by “pressure on voters“, as well as episodes of “physical and verbal violence.” Furthermore, on election day, CRTA observers suffered an attack in Odzaci (north) while documenting a case of alleged corruption. Observers also encountered “groups of people brought to vote” and that, upon leaving school, “they received envelopes.” Another institute, the Cesid center, also pointed out other irregularities that occurred throughout the country.
