By AFP
Published December 19, 2023
Protestors with signs saying 'How much longer?' outside Serbia's Electoral Commission in Belgrade on Tuesday
- Copyright GETTY IMAGES/AFP Tom Brenner
Una SABLJAKOVIC
Hundreds of people demonstrated against alleged voter fraud in the Serbian capital of Belgrade Tuesday, following calls by the main opposition camp to protest the weekend’s election results that have been marred by reports of “irregularities”.
The protest came a day after thousands rallied in front of Serbia’s election commission following the vote that saw President Aleksandar Vucic claim a commanding victory in parliamentary and local elections.
The crowd on Tuesday was smaller than the previous protest, with demonstrators, including a large number of students, chanting anti-government slogans and hoisting signs targeting Vucic.
“I am here tonight because I am very angry because of the voter fraud, not only in Belgrade but in all of Serbia,” Marko Radicevic, 29, told AFP.
Opposition leader Marinika Tepic indicated that protests would continue, saying more rallies would be needed to pressure the government.
“We caught them committing voter fraud, and we can’t accept that,” Tepic said.
Among the demands from the protestors, Tepic said opposition leaders were hoping to appear on a major state broadcaster, where coverage of the rallies and alleged fraud has not been shown.
Earlier in the day, the country’s leading opposition coalition called on people from across the political spectrum to join the demonstration.
“We invite all opposition parties and movements, citizens and civil society to join us,” said Miroslav Aleksic, a leader from the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) movement, at a press conference in Belgrade.
– ‘Concerns’ –
Criticism of the elections mounted after a team of international observers, including representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), denounced a string of “irregularities” including “vote buying” and “ballot box stuffing”.
Germany later labelled the reported allegations “unacceptable” for a country hoping to join the European Union, while the United States called on Belgrade to address the “concerns” of the election monitors.
“Claims of irregularities reported both by OSCE and other election observation teams should be investigated, and violence directed at election authorities, journalists, accredited observers — of which we have seen reports — is unacceptable,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The EU also joined the chorus of criticism, saying Serbia’s “electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reform”.
Even though Vucic was not personally on the ballot for the parliamentary and local elections over the weekend, the contest was largely seen as a referendum on his government.
Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) earned roughly 46 percent of votes in the parliamentary elections, while the leading opposition coalition secured 23.5 percent of ballots, according to official results.
The SNS also said it won in municipal elections in the capital Belgrade, where the party faced their stiffest challenge from a loose coalition of opposition parties and candidates running under the SPN banner.
The SPN movement was formed in the wake of back-to-back mass shootings earlier this year, which spurred hundreds of thousands to take to the streets in rallies that morphed into anti-government protests over several months.
Opposition groups have cast doubts over the validity of the contest following accusations that the government allowed unregistered voters from neighbouring Bosnia to cast ballots illegally in the capital.
Hundreds of people demonstrated against alleged voter fraud in the Serbian capital of Belgrade Tuesday, following calls by the main opposition camp to protest the weekend’s election results that have been marred by reports of “irregularities”.
The protest came a day after thousands rallied in front of Serbia’s election commission following the vote that saw President Aleksandar Vucic claim a commanding victory in parliamentary and local elections.
The crowd on Tuesday was smaller than the previous protest, with demonstrators, including a large number of students, chanting anti-government slogans and hoisting signs targeting Vucic.
“I am here tonight because I am very angry because of the voter fraud, not only in Belgrade but in all of Serbia,” Marko Radicevic, 29, told AFP.
Opposition leader Marinika Tepic indicated that protests would continue, saying more rallies would be needed to pressure the government.
“We caught them committing voter fraud, and we can’t accept that,” Tepic said.
Among the demands from the protestors, Tepic said opposition leaders were hoping to appear on a major state broadcaster, where coverage of the rallies and alleged fraud has not been shown.
Earlier in the day, the country’s leading opposition coalition called on people from across the political spectrum to join the demonstration.
“We invite all opposition parties and movements, citizens and civil society to join us,” said Miroslav Aleksic, a leader from the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) movement, at a press conference in Belgrade.
– ‘Concerns’ –
Criticism of the elections mounted after a team of international observers, including representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), denounced a string of “irregularities” including “vote buying” and “ballot box stuffing”.
Germany later labelled the reported allegations “unacceptable” for a country hoping to join the European Union, while the United States called on Belgrade to address the “concerns” of the election monitors.
“Claims of irregularities reported both by OSCE and other election observation teams should be investigated, and violence directed at election authorities, journalists, accredited observers — of which we have seen reports — is unacceptable,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The EU also joined the chorus of criticism, saying Serbia’s “electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reform”.
Even though Vucic was not personally on the ballot for the parliamentary and local elections over the weekend, the contest was largely seen as a referendum on his government.
Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) earned roughly 46 percent of votes in the parliamentary elections, while the leading opposition coalition secured 23.5 percent of ballots, according to official results.
The SNS also said it won in municipal elections in the capital Belgrade, where the party faced their stiffest challenge from a loose coalition of opposition parties and candidates running under the SPN banner.
The SPN movement was formed in the wake of back-to-back mass shootings earlier this year, which spurred hundreds of thousands to take to the streets in rallies that morphed into anti-government protests over several months.
Opposition groups have cast doubts over the validity of the contest following accusations that the government allowed unregistered voters from neighbouring Bosnia to cast ballots illegally in the capital.
Serbian opposition protest election fraud
Several thousand people took to the streets to rally against what they called a rigged election.
Aleksandar Vučić will have to navigate new concerns he is undermining the country’s democracy | Andrej Cukic/EFE via EPA
BY UNA HAJDARI
DECEMBER 19, 2023
BELGRADE ― Opponents of Serbia’s illiberal President Aleksandar Vučić, who claimed a win in Sunday’s elections amid allegations of major irregularities and voter fraud, have declared a hunger strike and have set up camp inside the central election commission building.
Since the vote, opposition parties and independent election observers have claimed that electoral fraud occurred despite claims by Vučić, the former head of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), to have won the snap ballots, especially in Belgrade, the country’s capital.
“We cannot and must not recognize the stolen Belgrade elections,” Marinika Tepić from the opposition Serbia Against Violence party announced Monday night before joining the protest inside the building. Several thousand Serbs rallied in the center of the city and blocked one of its main thoroughfares
The ruling SNS clinched about 47 percent support on the national stage, giving the party a commanding majority in parliament that ensures they can extend their decade-long reign. Yet in the pivotal battleground of Belgrade, where an opposition win seemed imminent, the margin tightened significantly, with the SNS securing about 39 percent while Serbia Against Violence edged over 34 percent of the vote.
The central election commission is still processing the final results of Sunday’s elections, as well as the complaints.
Vučić balances a relationship with both the West and the Kremlin, but now will have to navigate new concerns he is undermining the country’s democracy.
Traditionally, EU and Western leaders would have extended their congratulations to Vučić’s ruling SNS after elections. This time, only figures like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry have offered kudos.
While accusations of irregularities have plagued past elections in Serbia, the December 17 national and local elections were deemed more irregular than usual. Local independent election monitor CRTA declared that “the Belgrade election results fail to mirror the genuine will of the residents who cast their votes.”
In the past, election observers including the OSCE and EU representatives largely rubber-stamped the voting process, brushing aside minor irregularities.
These elections, however, mark a stark departure as monitors express grave concerns. In their report the OSCE declared the ballot was held under “unjust conditions,” citing a landscape marred by harsh rhetoric, media bias, pressure on public sector employees, and misuse of public resources.
The report also flagged instances of violence, vote-buying, the stuffing of ballot boxes, and frequent allegations of “organizing and busing voters to support the ruling party in local elections.”
“We have come to present the evidence we have so far, we have more, we have hundreds and hundreds of objections,” Tepić said.
Several thousand people took to the streets to rally against what they called a rigged election.
Aleksandar Vučić will have to navigate new concerns he is undermining the country’s democracy | Andrej Cukic/EFE via EPA
BY UNA HAJDARI
DECEMBER 19, 2023
BELGRADE ― Opponents of Serbia’s illiberal President Aleksandar Vučić, who claimed a win in Sunday’s elections amid allegations of major irregularities and voter fraud, have declared a hunger strike and have set up camp inside the central election commission building.
Since the vote, opposition parties and independent election observers have claimed that electoral fraud occurred despite claims by Vučić, the former head of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), to have won the snap ballots, especially in Belgrade, the country’s capital.
“We cannot and must not recognize the stolen Belgrade elections,” Marinika Tepić from the opposition Serbia Against Violence party announced Monday night before joining the protest inside the building. Several thousand Serbs rallied in the center of the city and blocked one of its main thoroughfares
The ruling SNS clinched about 47 percent support on the national stage, giving the party a commanding majority in parliament that ensures they can extend their decade-long reign. Yet in the pivotal battleground of Belgrade, where an opposition win seemed imminent, the margin tightened significantly, with the SNS securing about 39 percent while Serbia Against Violence edged over 34 percent of the vote.
The central election commission is still processing the final results of Sunday’s elections, as well as the complaints.
Vučić balances a relationship with both the West and the Kremlin, but now will have to navigate new concerns he is undermining the country’s democracy.
Traditionally, EU and Western leaders would have extended their congratulations to Vučić’s ruling SNS after elections. This time, only figures like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry have offered kudos.
While accusations of irregularities have plagued past elections in Serbia, the December 17 national and local elections were deemed more irregular than usual. Local independent election monitor CRTA declared that “the Belgrade election results fail to mirror the genuine will of the residents who cast their votes.”
In the past, election observers including the OSCE and EU representatives largely rubber-stamped the voting process, brushing aside minor irregularities.
These elections, however, mark a stark departure as monitors express grave concerns. In their report the OSCE declared the ballot was held under “unjust conditions,” citing a landscape marred by harsh rhetoric, media bias, pressure on public sector employees, and misuse of public resources.
The report also flagged instances of violence, vote-buying, the stuffing of ballot boxes, and frequent allegations of “organizing and busing voters to support the ruling party in local elections.”
“We have come to present the evidence we have so far, we have more, we have hundreds and hundreds of objections,” Tepić said.
“We have come to present the evidence we have so far, we have more, we have hundreds and hundreds of objections,” Marinika Tepić said
| Andrej Cukic/EFE via EPA
Protesters gathered in front of the central election commission on Monday and Tuesday, blowing whistles and vowing to persist until the elections are overturned.
“I’m protesting because the elections were absolutely rigged and the current results do not reflect the will of the people,” said Ana Mandinić, a 28-year-old political scientist who joined the protests in central Belgrade. “We will all take to the streets because we want normal elections at least once in our lives.”
Protesters gathered in front of the central election commission on Monday and Tuesday, blowing whistles and vowing to persist until the elections are overturned.
“I’m protesting because the elections were absolutely rigged and the current results do not reflect the will of the people,” said Ana Mandinić, a 28-year-old political scientist who joined the protests in central Belgrade. “We will all take to the streets because we want normal elections at least once in our lives.”
Serbia’s ruling populists say weekend elections were fair despite international criticism and protests
By —Jovana Gec, Associated Press
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s ruling populists insisted on Tuesday that weekend snap elections were free and fair despite criticism from international observers who noted multiple irregularities during the vote in the Balkan nation that is a candidate for European Union membership.
Protesters in Belgrade chanted “thieves, thieves” in front of the state election commission headquarters for the second day Tuesday. Some opposition politicians spent a night in the building after lodging formal complaints against what they say was “a robbery” by the ruling populists on Sunday’s vote.
READ MORE: Serbia’s ruling populist party claims sweeping victory in tense parliamentary election
Demonstrators pelted the electoral headquarters with eggs and demanded election officials to address the crowd and explain what happened. They are demanding that the vote be annulled and that new elections be held. The ruling populists have rejected the calls.
Political tensions in Serbia soared over the parliamentary and local elections on Sunday. Several thousand people also rallied on Monday to protest alleged fraud at the ballot for municipal authorities in Belgrade, the capital.
Early results showed victory for President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party in both ballots. But its main opponents, the Serbia Against Violence alliance, said they were robbed of a win in Belgrade.
Opposition leaders, who accuse Vucic of stifling democratic freedoms contrary to assertions in the government’s EU bid, said they will not recognize the result in Belgrade.
“We are very happy how the election day went,” Milos Vucevic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, said on pro-government TV Prva. “It (the election) can set an example for many other countries.”
In a preliminary statement Monday, a mission made up of representatives of international rights watchdogs said the Serbia vote was “marred by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources.”
Serious irregularities included cases of vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, according to the joint conclusions by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
On Tuesday, EU Commission officials said they “conclude with concern that the electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reform, as the proper functioning of Serbia’s democratic institutions is at the core of Serbia’s EU accession process.”
“We also expect that credible reports of irregularities are followed up in a transparent manner by the competent national authorities,” High Representative Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry in a post Monday on X, formerly Twitter, noted that “the OSCE … is reporting abuse of public funds, intimidation of voters and cases of vote-buying.” The statement called that “unacceptable for a country with EU candidate status.”
But the Kremlin congratulated Vucic on the election victory, calling Serbia a “brotherly” and “friendly” nation. China applauded the “undisturbed” holding of the vote in a statement shared by Vucic’s office.
Vucic, who has been in power since 2012, has dismissed criticism that his government curbs democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organized crime to run rampant.
Under Vucic, Serbia became a candidate for EU membership, but the opposition accuses the bloc of turning a blind eye to democratic shortcomings in return for stability in the Balkan region, still troubled after the wars of the 1990s.
Serbia Against Violence includes parties that were behind months of street protests this year triggered by back-to-back mass shootings in May. The group has charged that some 40,000 people were bused in from neighboring Bosnia to vote in Belgrade and tilt the outcome in favor of the populists.
Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
By —Jovana Gec, Associated Press
Dec 19, 2023 3:59 PM EST
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s ruling populists insisted on Tuesday that weekend snap elections were free and fair despite criticism from international observers who noted multiple irregularities during the vote in the Balkan nation that is a candidate for European Union membership.
Protesters in Belgrade chanted “thieves, thieves” in front of the state election commission headquarters for the second day Tuesday. Some opposition politicians spent a night in the building after lodging formal complaints against what they say was “a robbery” by the ruling populists on Sunday’s vote.
READ MORE: Serbia’s ruling populist party claims sweeping victory in tense parliamentary election
Demonstrators pelted the electoral headquarters with eggs and demanded election officials to address the crowd and explain what happened. They are demanding that the vote be annulled and that new elections be held. The ruling populists have rejected the calls.
Political tensions in Serbia soared over the parliamentary and local elections on Sunday. Several thousand people also rallied on Monday to protest alleged fraud at the ballot for municipal authorities in Belgrade, the capital.
Early results showed victory for President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party in both ballots. But its main opponents, the Serbia Against Violence alliance, said they were robbed of a win in Belgrade.
Opposition leaders, who accuse Vucic of stifling democratic freedoms contrary to assertions in the government’s EU bid, said they will not recognize the result in Belgrade.
“We are very happy how the election day went,” Milos Vucevic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, said on pro-government TV Prva. “It (the election) can set an example for many other countries.”
In a preliminary statement Monday, a mission made up of representatives of international rights watchdogs said the Serbia vote was “marred by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources.”
Serious irregularities included cases of vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, according to the joint conclusions by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
On Tuesday, EU Commission officials said they “conclude with concern that the electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reform, as the proper functioning of Serbia’s democratic institutions is at the core of Serbia’s EU accession process.”
“We also expect that credible reports of irregularities are followed up in a transparent manner by the competent national authorities,” High Representative Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry in a post Monday on X, formerly Twitter, noted that “the OSCE … is reporting abuse of public funds, intimidation of voters and cases of vote-buying.” The statement called that “unacceptable for a country with EU candidate status.”
But the Kremlin congratulated Vucic on the election victory, calling Serbia a “brotherly” and “friendly” nation. China applauded the “undisturbed” holding of the vote in a statement shared by Vucic’s office.
Vucic, who has been in power since 2012, has dismissed criticism that his government curbs democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organized crime to run rampant.
Under Vucic, Serbia became a candidate for EU membership, but the opposition accuses the bloc of turning a blind eye to democratic shortcomings in return for stability in the Balkan region, still troubled after the wars of the 1990s.
Serbia Against Violence includes parties that were behind months of street protests this year triggered by back-to-back mass shootings in May. The group has charged that some 40,000 people were bused in from neighboring Bosnia to vote in Belgrade and tilt the outcome in favor of the populists.
Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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